The Gray between Black and White
by masterdude21
Summary: A prosperous time of peace for Humanity is based on lies and violence. The Grimm are returning the the world of Man and they seek to wipe out every form of life. Mankind is slowly getting corrupted from the inside as Faunus and Humans fight each other and amongst themselves. Only the pure of heart might be able to restore balance to a chaotic world -but who is truly pure of heart?
1. Chapter 1

**Well, this is certainly awkward. I was supposed to continue the Scattered Series, but instead I find myself writing a RWBY fanfiction. Why, you wonder? There are multiple reasons for it; the most important one being…well, my little sister. **

**She loves RWBY and made me Role-play with her some time ago. She had developed a character (OC) for the series and wanted me to do the same. But unfortunately I have the nasty habit (one that the people that read my other works are probably aware of) to completely work out characters and possible plots that come to my mind in strange and interesting ways. So having created some humorous OC's based on existing characters/people, I was suddenly stuck with an immense amount of inspiration to write a RWBY fanfiction. **

**And my little sister loved the idea. "Do it!" She told me, making me watch her terrible and almighty puppy-eyes. **

**No! I thought to myself as I reflected on my previous work. Don't spread yourself out too thin, focus on your main storyline!**

**But her eyes and my integrity as an older brother created the first major breach in my Integrity as a writer and soon I found other reasons to start this story. More and more cracks appeared in my Writers Integrity, but I would have been able to hold out for some time…were it not for my dear friend that joined me on a recent hike near France.**

**Turns out that he had created an OC too! And for some time, he too discussed his ideas with me. But in direct contrast to my little sister, he barraged my mind with logic and options. And then this little spark of inspiration grew larger and larger, until I wanted to create an epic world filled with awesome characters and development!**

**I had no choice! I had to give in! The inspiration was too much and the potential of some characters…the potential was too great. I caved in and well…here we are. So yes… a RWBY fanfiction based on heavy AU events and characters. But don't worry my dear followers! You know me, I would never start a story that I do not intend to follow through for a hundred percent! (At least not anymore…) **

**Humor and AU aside, this story is intended to be a complete universe on its own.**

**So without further ado… on to the first chapter!**

~0~

_Life is an amazing thing. The complete development from one creature into another can be considered both a biological thing and a philosophical thing. What is it that directs something to evolve? What is the main cause for a creature to adapt to something? Well…the word 'adapt' itself can be considered an explanation for that matter. _

_When faced with dire circumstances, a living being will be forced to either adapt to its surroundings and completely change- or accept its fate and die. But when it comes to adaption…is there a greater power than the human mind? _

_Humanity's capability to change and adept has been their saving grace once- when the earth was young and change was in the skies. Evolution had been kind to them- humankind was able to prosper and spread in a world that they could conquer due to their capability to adept._

_But not more._

_History is vague as to what happened after humanity spread over the seas. Some say it was an ancient evil that had been roused from its slumber some time ago- meant to conquer and destroy. Others try to be more logical with their fears and say that evolution had taken a dire step against humanity in a bitter, but random development._

_There are those that state that they came from a yet unknown place on the world, lying dormant until disturbed. There are even people who believe that they were send by some god to enact his vengeance on humanity. No-one is certain where they came from or what they want, but almost everyone agrees on one thing: they want us all dead._

_The terrible collection of monstrous beings…ancient forms of destruction and creations of evil. Otherwise known… as the Grimm._

_They came out of nowhere, slaughtering their way past the futile attempts of defiance of human beings and raging through the north. Soon, the remaining humans in the northern region of their beloved planet realized that they could not possibly hope to defeat an enemy this fierce…this evil._

_And then humanity discovered Dust. This too, is a vague element in history. But this time it didn't matter how and why. The only thing that mattered was that the Dust- a strange and powerful element- was the means to an end. _

_Utilizing the power of Dust, humanity struck back at the Grimm and halted their reckless advance. They fought a short, brutal fight that would determine the fate of every human being on the planet. In the end, they managed to beat back the tidal waves of nightmares and stop the Grimm at the North. Humanity had been saved by the discovery of Dust- but at a cost._

_The southern, eastern and western parts of the planet remained under human control but the Grimm had absolutely leveled the Northern segment. Was the cost acceptable?_

_According to some, it was. Peace something that people were prepared to sacrifice anything for. And peace was the outcome of humanity's struggle against the overwhelming darkness._

_But everyone agreed on the decision that the North would have to be contained somehow. The Grimm were still very present and according to doom-sayers… waiting for a chance to strike again. For many years they lay dormant, their main bulk having been wiped out. _

_Over time, isolated cases of Grimm attacks on small communities and villages slowly increased. The ideas and believes of humanity in the different regions…now having become the different kingdoms… began to clash with each other. In the end, the Southern, Western and Eastern regions ceased communicating with each other over major decisions and events, to prevent further hostilities._

_This story begins with the newly established order in the Eastern region._

_The order of Hunters and Huntresses._

_~0~ _

"Coordinates received, stand by for further Intel."

"We don't need Intel. Find out where the girl is."

"The girl sir?"

"I did not stutter, did I?"

The radio remained silent for a few seconds before a reply came. "No sir. Commencing search."

"Good…" Headmaster Ozpin sighed, before shutting the radio off. He had been conversing with the good man for at least half an hour before he could actually get him to work; a feat of which he was particular proud, seeing as the Local Police Department wasn't exactly…the most competent group people out there.

Things were going pretty good that day- he had woken up perfectly in time according to his schedule and the few preparations that he had to take, were still far away enough to prevent worry. The third year of Beacon Academy was about to start; only a week remained and he had all the time in the world to properly prepare for the coming year.

Around three years ago, people had started whispering in the streets. Existing doubts and fears had been called to life and all of a sudden, everyone was worrying about the supposed return of the Grimm. Where all the gossip and talk had actually come from was beyond him. At first he hadn't paid any thought to the scared people- he knew better than to worry about things he could not control. They would calm down and the talk about Grimm would slowly recede- just like any trend or fashion-period would.

But the people hadn't ceased talking. On the contrary; their panic and fears had only increased. Suddenly everyone in the eastern region was talking about returning Grimm. The town where Ozpin lived in hadn't been outfitted with a Hunter/huntress training facility yet, so the panic had…most intense around the parts there. More and more instances of violence and crimes were appearing across the city.

And the Police Department couldn't keep the chaos under control.

Eventually faint feelings and sensations of doubt had seeped into his mind. Where did the gossip of returning Grimm come from? Why were the people so determined to keep the rumors alive? And what had actually caused the chaos and reigns of petty crime-lords around the city?

In the end, he couldn't stand it anymore. The city needed to be a pleasant place to live in- and the looming threat of returning Grimm and murderous crime lords wasn't exactly…pleasant.

So he had established Beacon Academy: a place where people could be turned into warriors, a place where Hunters and Huntresses could be trained to protect the city should the Grimm ever return.

Of course he wasn't the only one to have founded an academy; all across the eastern Kingdom people had started to create places where warriors could be trained- where young people could be educated in the way of the Hunter.

A Hunter of Grimm.

That was three years ago- his school had prospered since then. All across the Kingdom potential students would come to visit it- to try and see if they couldn't join the famous Beacon Academy to become a hunter.

Or a huntress.

Ozpin was aware of the potential return of the Grimm- he knew that they would eventually return. Beacon academy's sole reason for existing was based on that, in fact. But the way the civilians kept gossiping and talking about it was… rather unnerving. More and more applicants for his academy kept coming and eventually he had been forced to establish some ground rules- to prevent those that did not truly want the chance from participating in his school.

Two generations of hunters and huntresses were training and learning at his school. None of them were actually ready for a coming war, of course. The education took time and discipline- only a few notable individuals had been able to complete their study in two years. The rest was still learning- and the newest class of students was almost completely selected.

They were the first group to have been selected from already capable persons- people that had already learned how to fight and how to operate weaponry. This class would be better suited for the training schedule he had come up with than the previous ones, mainly because of their experience.

But how capable would they truly be? These individuals had to bring their own equipment, but how willing would they be? How far could he push them?

Two sharp knocks on the door shook him from his musings. "You may enter." He said and watched the door open.

"Ah yes…Miss Goodwitch." He said and gently pushed his glasses a bit higher. "Are you ready?"

The person that stood in the door-opening was none less than the famous Glynda Goodwitch, an extraordinary huntress and very capable teacher. She was one of the few individuals he truly trusted with a task as important as this one.

"Yes sir." She said with a clear voice. Her blond hair had been tied back in a simple knot and she already wore her fighting outfit. "I have received your list of potential candidates, but I do wonder. Why did you choose her? Not one of the other potential students?"

"My reasons are my own…for now." He said calmly and stood up from his desk. "The other ones will be collected by other people on other times. Some of them have already been- but for now, it is important that you find her very soon. The year is about to start and there are still a few things that I need to take care of.

"I understand sir." Goodwitch replied and turned to leave.

"Miss Glynda?" He asked, catching her attention again.

"Yes sir?"

"Be careful…with the subject. I don't want any of them to be stuck with…prejudices…if you will?"

The huntress seemed thoughtful for a second before her face calmed itself again. Once again devoid of emotions, she gave her answer. "It will be done." And with that she turned around and left his office, leaving him alone with his thoughts.

~0~

"The streets are dark tonight. A power-outage has occurred this afternoon and is preventing electronics in Jericho-street from working properly. When confronted with the repercussions of the outage, Head Chef Harking of the Local Police Department explained that there is no need for trouble. The Power outage should only last until 3'o clock tonight, according to him. After that the streetlights should be up and running again."

"That is interesting, Jenny? Why should the power-outage cause any form of trouble? Is that just an unfortunate figure of speech, or is there something else behind this all?"

The channel remained silent for two seconds before someone responded. "I think that a power-outage could be s source of panic. Chef Harkin only wants the people to know that there is no need for uh…panic."

"You heard it people, no need for panic! Back to you Lisa."

The old man sighed and pressed a button on his remote, turning the television off. The news was getting more and more serious- the amount of armed robberies was going through the roof and people were getting mugged on the streets every night. Yesterday night, there even was a case of a duel murder. Murder! And now the Vale News Network saw fit to warn them about a power-outage in some street nobody had heard off? That was just silly. It was not like it would hit him or something, so why was it even on the news?

He was a well-aged man; over seventy years old and still the proud shopkeeper of 'From Dust Till Dawn'. He sold all kinds of dust-artifacts: the pure form, crystals, cartridges and even multiple measures to transport quantities of the stuff. He had a lot of expensive merchandise and he was proud of it. He wasn't interested in stupid blackouts he needed to know whether his hop was safe or not! Would he eventually need a better security system?

Or his very first security system? That actually seemed like a good idea. Even though he didn't have any reason to suspect that anyone would target his shop- besides for stealing his supplies of Dust. And everybody knew that if you needed Dust- you needed to target a Schnee facility. That was the reason why nobody would actually try to rob him; he wasn't a large scale dealer. He didn't hold any appeal to thieves- so far the only human in his shop that looked even slightly suspicious was a little girl with a red cape.

She had been there for at least fifteen minutes now, browsing through all kinds of magazines and visiting one dust dispenser after another; studying their effects, origins and prices.

Had she been any other person he would have grown suspicious and called the police. But he did not worry a lot about this girl: she had been annually visiting him every two days to look through his weapon magazines. For some reason she really loved those and he paid it no mind. She wasn't looking for a way to rob him or steal his Dust supplies- he was sure of that. He could tell. She was just a little girl- couldn't be older than a year of fifteen or sixteen.

"Find anything yet?" He asked her and turned his television back on, hoping that something more useful had come up.

The dark-haired girl didn't respond to his call, but he hadn't expected her to. She was wearing headphones and listening to music; so she couldn't hear a thing he said.

That was one of the other reasons that he trusted her to do nothing out of the ordinary. How could a person plan a robbery when said person couldn't even keep notice of his or her environment?

His little nephew was a Police officer. He visited him every now and then to tell him- filled with proud and confidence- about the new tactics he had learned. How he learned more and more about police maneuvers and how his skills kept improving.

The kid had been so proud of himself that the old man hadn't bothered to tell him that the police was becoming more and more useless around these parts. What use was a policeman when he couldn't properly defend the innocent and the good?

But his nephew didn't need to know that; he was still so young and filled with hope. And that was what the city needed the most around now- a good sense of-

-the bell above the door rang and multiple men entered his shop. They were all wearing black suites, with fancy and very matching shoes and little hats. That alone wasn't weird- he had seen plenty of businessmen enter his shop to do research for Dust applications. But there were a few reasons that these men looked like trouble to him.

The first one was the young looking chap with his orange hair and fancy cane, who looked around like he owned the place.

The second one was that all these men were wearing red ties and sunglasses, making them look a bit like a sect.

The third and last one was the fact that all of the suit-wearing males were wielding swords and firearms. That was a major indicator of trouble.

The punk with the orange hair walked up to him and crossed his arms. Then he sighed heavily and looked at him from underneath his bowler hat. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop that's open this late?"

One of the armed men pointed his gun at him and he instantly raised his hands, not wanting to get killed in a robbery. "Please! Don't shoot, just take my Lien and leave!"

He should have gotten that security system when he had the chance…

"Calm down!" The lead criminal said. "We don't want to shoot you or take your money…we'll just relieve you of any spare Dust you might have." He nodded with his head to the Dust canisters and the suited men quickly moved to seize them.

"Wait!" He said but the person aiming his gun at him took a step forwards and he instantly froze again, scared to death of the hanging threat.

Another of the criminals walked up to the counter and held up an empty suit case. Was he supposed to fill it with something?

"Crystals. Burn. Uncut." The man spoke with a weird accent he could not identify. Damnit! He wanted the pure unprocessed crystals that he kept in his counter.

He grumbled under his breath as he grabbed the beautiful shards and stuffed them into the case. These were expensive and very powerful crystals and he hated seeing them go into the wrong hands. These things packed a lot of punch and he knew what they could cause when used improperly.

From the corner of his eyes he could spot one of the robbers unsheathe his sword- which was also red. What was with the fashion choice of these…these bandits? Were they in some kind of gang? Anyway, the man advanced towards the girl and called her out.

"Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em!"

She didn't respond. Of all the days to wear headphones and listen loud music, she had to pick the one when a gang of armed robbers had planned to mug him!

He didn't want to know how this ended. He didn't need to know. Either he or the girl would be shot or stabbed during these criminals' escape and the VNN would have one more murder to casually talk about. Sometimes, life was a sick joke.

While he was busy filling their caskets, he could hear the words being exchanged between the dark-haired girl and the man threatening her. He was asking her to put her hands in the air, but she ignored him. Or at least that was what the guy had to think- he couldn't possibly know about her headphones, could he?

Wrong. The moment his eyes glanced over her face and ears, his eyebrows rose and he could have sworn that the man's sunglasses moved a little bit too. The sight was strangely amusing in a twisted way. Like their sunglasses could somehow reflect and change upon their emotions.

Then the criminal started making wild gestured with his arms to his own face. One hand slapped against his ear and the other one started plucking imaginary headphones out of the air. The guy was obviously trying to catch her attention, but so far he wasn't exactly successful. Of course his little…play…wasn't the best technique to grab someone's attention he knew off.

Eventually, it had to occur to him that the girl couldn't see his elaborate scheme because she was standing with her back towards him- a red hood draped over her head. The henchman had to be a very clever person to come up with such a great conclusion. What oh what would the overly intelligent man do to actually get her attention? To get her to focus on him?

The well-clothed criminal walked up to her and grabbed her by her shoulder to turn her around. In the process her hood fell off and revealed her head completely. Her face was obviously surprised- most likely this entire robbery had been completely missed by her.

She took out her headphones and threw him a curious glance. "Yes?" She said with a friendly voice.

The man that was so desperately trying to get her attention smiled and he silently pumped his fist in the air. Then his features calmed themselves and his mouth actually formed a grimace.

"I said hands in the air, now!"

Now he sounded agitated. Were these men that were going to rob them, or little kids privy to mood swings?

"Are you…robbing me?" The girl responded with a hint of amusement in her tone. Excellent deduction skills girlie, now put your hands in the air before he hurts you!

"Yes!" The criminal replied, seeming honestly relieved that she finally understood him.

"Ooooh…"

And then things happened too fast for actually follow. She moved- it wasn't even that fast a hit- but the guy went sailing through the shop and landed with his head in one of the still empty cases.

Another guy aimed his gun at her, but she moved again and both of them went sailing through the window.

'My window!' He wanted to shout, but then he realized that a little girl was going to fight half a dozen armed men single-handedly because he hadn't bothered to get himself a security system. He should feel guilty- he would, had the girl not been able to completely wipe the attacking gang out. She moved faster than he had ever seen a girl her age move- and she wielded some kind strange scythe, which emitted a loud banging noise everytime she moved.

In the end she had disabled all of the men and she was aiming her weapon at the leader with his orange hair.

"Well…" He said and started to walk towards her. "I have to say, it has been an amusing evening. But for now, I am afraid I must take my leave." He grabbed that fancy cane of his and aimed it at her.

"Ta-ta!" He declared and pressed on a button. A targeting reticle appeared and he pressed the button again. A large red blast escaped the end of his cane and for a second he feared that the thug might have actually hit the girl. But when the smoke cleared and the man had run away, the girl was still there but only a few feet away from the crater in the ground.

"Mind if I go after him?" She said.

"No…not at all…" He responded and felt a faint smile coming up. This girl had saved him, his shop and everything inside of it without as much as scowling at the situation. She was a unique person…one whom he would have liked to know better. Maybe she would return to his hop one day…and then he would be there to thank her and try to make things even better. Including a new security system.

The girl jumped off again and disappaeared over the roof.

That man's cane had been truly amazing…such style…elegance…the potential for destruction. Maybe he would try and design such a magnificent piece of equipment for himself. He could most definitely use the style. He clamped his hands behind his back and whistled when he walked back to his store.

~0~

Well that situation had been worth every single penny that he had invested in it. The henchmen he had hired had been nothing but brutal thugs: literary. All they had done was swing their weapons around like clubs, yell and scream a lot and then get beaten by a little girl.

He had at least managed to take a suitcase filled to the brim with dust…so things weren't completely bad.

A faint 'swoosh' behind him made him reevaluate his findings. He turned around and saw the same redhead that had beaten the crap out of his men standing there. "Hey!" She yelled and readied that ridiculously oversized scythe of her.

He took a few steps back until he had reached the edge of the roof. If only she could be here in time… a little bit sooner. "Persistent…" He muttered and involuntarily his hand clutched his dear cane a little bit tighter.

A torrent of wind behind him nearly send hum tumbling to the ground. It seemed like his ride was here –and his lovely…companion…was ready to bail him out. He turned around and jumped into the open tray of the airjet. "End of the line, red!" He called out and grabbed a large, red dust crystal. These things were volatile as hell and very effective when it came to rooting out…resistance.

He threw the crystal at the girl's feet and fired a second shot at it with his awesome cane. A large explosion consumed the girl and he was certain that he had dispatched of her. All her speedy jumping and fancy weapon swinging and she still hadn't been good enough to beat him!

"Whoa hoo hoo!" He yelled and resisted the urge to pump his fist in the air.

He started laughing at the situation and was about to head back in the plane, when he noticed something that could potentially ruin their operation. A new enemy had arrived on the scene; a woman with a purple cape. Was it national day of the capes or something?

The woman waved with her own cane –which was still smaller than his, something in which he took a small comfort- and seemed to have projected some kind of protective field in front of the girl… ah hell she was a huntress!

The huntress flicked with her little cane again and this time, multiple purple shooting stars appeared and they all struck his ship. That was his transport that she was ruining! He hadn't even painted it yet! The ship started to lurch from one side to another with the barrage and he could barely stay upright. His cane flew out of his hand and rolled to a stop somewhere inside the cargo bay. He held to his hat with one hand and used his other one to support himself.

"We've got a huntress!" He yelled at his pilot. The red-garbed woman who was trying to keep the ship in the air with all her might instantly left the control panel and made her way to the open bay. He took the silent hint and took her place as the pilot. He was a better driver than she was anyway.

The purple-caped woman made a gesture with her weapon and a single purple bolt sailed through the air. It exploded in the air multiple meters above his ship and he would have laughed at her lack of aiming skills, had he not been busy keeping the plane from crashing.

Then the place where her bolt had exploded made way for thick, black clouds which spread above the rooftops quicker than any storm could. The sudden gale of winds was enough to catch his ship off guard again and he started losing the controls. Again.

The woman swept her cane to the right and many dozens of razor-sharp ice shards flew through the air. They all seemed to originate from the storm brooding above him and he had no doubt what would happen if one of those hit him. End of the line, orange.

"What the hell!" He yelled.

The knife-like projectiles rained down on the metal ship and he could actually hear the not-so-subtle 'thuds' of each hit. One of the shards actually hit the cockpit and blew through the glass panes with ease, narrowly missing his head and messing up his leather seating. What was she doing back there?

He could hear his companion getting ready for the fight and he smiled. Nobody had ever beaten her!

He activated one of the aft cameras and saw her launch a firebolt at the two women standing at the rooftop. The huntress managed to evade the hit, but she raised her arm and the placed glyphs on the ground behind their enemies glowed white-hot before exploding outwards. She completely messed up the roof, but the huntress apparently had no trouble with this seeing as she gathered up the shards and debris and formed a large arrow with it.

She launched the deadly projectile at their ship and the fiery woman was forced to relocate her fire to try and blast it out of the sky. Everytime she hit the damned thing, it simply reformed itself again and was about to hit his ally. He quickly pulled at the steer and the ship lurched heavily to the side, presenting the armoured roof to the projectile and bouncing it off of his ship.

But the playtime wasn't over. The arrow reformed itself into more arrows and they started circling his ship. He would be unable to get away if this continued!

The woman in the back of the plane spread her hands and a torrent of flames spread around the ship, completely vaporizing the projectiles.

The redhead on the roof decided to act on her own now. She set down her scythe and turned -actually turned- the weapon into a gun. Who the hell was she!

With her newly formed rifle she opened fire at them, but his ally blocked all the shots and retaliated by creating several blazing underneath the duo. The huntress swept her weapon around and threw the girl away from the circles before jumping out of the way herself. But the brief lull in the fire was enough for him to regain control over the plane and he quickly steered away from the building, closing the hangar bay in the process.

He had done it! He had escaped the meddlesome kid and the huntress with a woefully impeccable sense of timing. He had successfully retrieved the dust crystals for his plans and now he could advance them.

He would have to fix his airjet though…repair the damage…fix the scratches…paint it.

He would definitely paint it.

~0~

Day One: two 'o clock, midnight.

The red-haired girl looked up at her with the most pleading, amazed face she had ever seen. "You're a huntress!" She told her. Then she came even closer and placed her hands together in a pleading figure. "Can I have your autograph?!"

Well…there was only one thing that Glynda could do with such demonstration of admiration.

So she took the girl back to Beacon academy and sat her in the interrogation room. She enjoyed the sudden change on the girl's face; from happiness to shame. It was good that she realized that she had done something wrong- but she had no idea of the trouble she was in.

Miss Goodwitch allowed a faint smile of satisfaction to play over her features. She was about to start one of her favorite activities and she'd be damned if she didn't do it right the first time.

"I hope that you realize that your actions will not be taken lightly young lady. You have put yourself and others in great danger!

The red-haired girl frowned and she could see a little bit of despair in her eyes –exactly what she was looking to inspire in her. Her presence was always intensely unnerving to people; nobody dared to cross her. Well, almost nobody.

"But they started it!" She said, possibly seeking an argument in her favor. It was not going to happen.

"That doesn't matter!" Glynda responded. "If it were up to me, you'd be sent home…with a pat on the back…"

The girl smiled, perhaps hoping that she'd be out of trouble within a few moments.

"…and a slap on the wrist!" She used her wand to slap the place on the table where the young lady had placed her hand, but she quickly pulled it back and shrieked in fear.

"But unfortunately it is not up to me to make such decisions. Plus: there is someone here who wishes to meet you." And with that she moved out of the way and revealed the door-opening to the girl. Or rather, the person who stood in the door-opening.

The man standing at the ready was no-one less than headmaster Ozpin; the man who ordered her to bring this girl to Beacon Academy. She was just about to turn and face him when she saw what he was holding in his hands. A plate of cookies. What was he planning? Was this some sort of joke?

Then she saw the serious expression on his face and realized what was going on. It was a very clever interrogation technique that he was about to unleash on the poor girl. Oh he was so good.

Ozpin set the plate in the middle of the table and sat down in front of the girl.

"Ruby Rose…" He said and leaned forward to get a closer look of her face. "You have silver eyes…"

The girl stuttered and tried to say something, but the words didn't come out. The headmaster was working his magic and the girl was already at his mercy –even if she didn't realize it herself. He held his gaze for a second longer before returning to his original position. "So!" He said and held his hand out to Glynda. She understood the message immediately and handed him a tablet with the footage she had recorded. Ozpin continued talking while activating it, nailing the timing perfectly.

"Where did you learn to do this?" He said and showed her the combined result of camera footage and her own. She had taken a small camera and attached it to her outfit in order to get some reviewable information on the girl's fighting capacity.

"Well…" The redhead stammered and looked at him with an unsure expression in her eyes. "Signal academy…"

Really? She had attended Signal academy?

"They taught you how to use the most dangerous weapon ever designed by man?" Ozpin continued, his voice sounding a little bit agitated. She was sure it was all going according to plan though.

"Well…"Ruby hesitated. "One teacher in particular."

"I see…" Ozpin said and for a moment, his eyes glazed over and he looked at a point between the girl and himself. Then, he recovered and stood up from his position. He gestured at the plate of cookies and Ruby tentatively took one. Then another. And another.

And before Glynda knew it the plate was almost empty.

"It's just that I have only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow…"

The girl nodded in agreement and tried to confirm it. "Uh thut's mah Uncrel!"

It was an amazing feat considering the raw amounts of cookie currently in her mouth. Normally a person would be unable to even breathe, let alone speak with their cheeks so stuffed with mass.

The girl realized that she was speaking gibberish and quickly swallowed. "Sorry, that's my uncle Qrow!" She continued and seemed to live up completely. "He is a teacher at signal; I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like-"

She made some strange sounds as her limbs curled curved in unknown patterns.

"So I've noticed…" Ozpin said, his face still serious. Out of nowhere he retrieved a steaming cup of tea and sat down again. "So what is an adorable girl like you doing at a school designed to train warriors?"

And then Ruby Rose spend two minutes explaining how much she loved the thought of being a Huntress, how cool hunters and huntresses were and how romantic and awesome their lives had to be. She seemed so extremely excited about the prospect, that Glynda could actually see Ozpin's heart swell with proud. Just a tiny bit and she was the only person that could see it, but it was still there.

"Do you know who I am?" Ozpin asked the girl, showing no outward change to her speech safe for a little smirk.

"You are professor Ozpin, headmaster and founder of beacon academy, the first real Hunting Academy in Vale!"

She knew history well, Glynda had to give her that. The girl was ambitious, colourful and already well trained. If the headmaster was really planning to do what she thought he was…then she wouldn't be the one to stop him. She would support his choices.

"Do you want to learn at my school?" He softly asked her.

"More than anything!" Ruby responded in an even softer tone.

"Well then…welcome aboard Miss Rose."

~0~

As Glynda Goodwitch escorted the little girl out of the room and to the main sector of the ship where she could spend the night, he stayed behind to review the filmed materiel. The resemblance of Ruby Rose was remarkable and he was curious as to see what she could accomplice; the average age of academy students was somewhere around seventeen or eighteen. She couldn't have been much older than fifteen: making her officially the youngest student he has ever had at his school. But whether this signified a positive change or a negative one wasn't sure.

After a few minutes of useless speculation and imagination, Ozpin got up and exited the dark depressing room. It was the only room of its kind on this airship- because that was where they currently were; inside of a rather oversized airship. It wasn't standard issue to use these large planes, not even in the reclusive military organizations of Vale and this specific one wasn't standard issue even amongst those.

For starters, this one was designed with luxury at mind and not usefulness. This was a passenger ship, one specifically designed to ferry a large amount of people from one location to the other without any form of hinder between the destinations.

He had to pull a few strings to get the ship under his custody of course, but he never regretted the decision to get the ship under his name. It was a very useful addition to his arsenal; one which had proven to be particularly handy time and time again.

So far this ship had been carrying only a small fraction of its capacity. No more than a few dozen of possible students were currently on board of the airship. Ruby Rose was one of them. Yang Xiao Long –her big sister- was also one of them. Miss Long didn't know anything about the presence of Ruby- the redhead would be in for a real surprise the next morning.

Ozpin allowed a faint smile to play over his lips. This was a real gamble that he took here; taking multiple educational roads in his school. The two generations of students that already existed had been training for two and three years respectively- and had nothing to do with the first generation. In combat prowess and experience, they would be on par with each other.

But not everyone who was supposed to be joining beacon academy were on board of this ship right now. There were at least half a dozen persons still missing. Most of them had already agreed upon their new education some time ago, but were still nowhere to be found. It didn't matter much though; Ozpin's people had promised him that the next airship – which was due to leaving tomorrow morning- would contain all the missing students. And he knew that he had picked the right persons for the job, so he wouldn't be let down by his men.

~0~

Day two: 9 'o clock in the morning

The following morning was one of many hectic affairs to poor Ruby. First of all she had woken up in a strange room on a strange bed underneath…smelly blankets. Then she had wandered aimlessly around on the huge ship, desperately trying to find her way to the other students. She had wanted to catch up with them for multiple reasons, the most prominent being the fact that her big sister was supposed to be on this ship.

"Damnit Yang…" She muttered as she walked past the big window for the sixth time. "Where are you?"

And now that she had left her sleeping room to find her, she couldn't return there because she had gotten too lost for words. This big window –which granted her an awesome view-, was the only thing that she kept seeing regularly and she had been thinking of making a map of the airship's interior, starting with this very window.

Even though it was still very early in the morning, there were bound to be other people gathering here right? This window was the place where the Huntress had told her to wait. Why weren't there any other people? Where were-

"Ruby? Is that you?"

Wait a minute. She recognized that enthusiastic voice, that boundless way of expressing one's self. Was that…

"Yang!"

The blonde girl that had just entered the room locked eyes with her and Ruby could see her expression turning to golden glee. "It is you! I had heard something about you being here but I couldn't believe it!"

Yang tackled her and pulled her in a punishing embrace. "Oh I just can't believe my baby sister is going to beacon with me! This is the best day ever!"

Can't. Think. Air. Deprived. Must. Beg. For. Release. "Please stop…" She managed to whisper. Her big sister released her but kept a strong grip on her hands.

"But I am so proud of you!"

Why? There was no reason for her to be proud of her like that! "Really Sis…it was nothing. "

More people entered the room –it would appear that Goodwitch was right about the staging area. "What do you mean? It was incredible! Everyone at beacon is going to think you are the bee's knees!"

And that was where the problem lay. "I don't want to be the bee's knees okay! I just want to be a normal with normal knees!"

"What's with you? Aren't you excited?"

"Of course I am! It's just…" She sighed and tried to find a way to express her various doubts and concerns. "I… I got moved ahead _two _years. I don't want anyone to think that I am special or anything."

Yang gave her a warm smile and she felt slightly reassured of her cause. "But you are special!" She said and her eyes were so full of love that Ruby felt her fears wash away without any problem. She knew that there wasn't any problem in the world which the two of them couldn't handle.

Thanks…" She whispered and smiled in return. She couldn't help it; Yang could make even the gloomiest of people dance with happiness once they were in the same room with her for two minutes.

Together they watched a screen come to life with the daily news on it –first a not-so-informative scene about a robbery prevented at a local dust shop. Then a more interesting topic came on the television: something about Faunus civil rights protesters having been disturbed a White Fang action.

After that came a nerve-wrecking speech courtesy of Glynda Goodwitch, who basically told them what lucky bastards they were and that should behave properly.

The real action began when Ruby could finally spot the castle where they would be spending this newest chapter of their lives.  
"You can see Beacon Academy from all the way up here!" She said when she beheld the amazing collection of buildings and towers. It was an amazing sight –surely everyone would agree on that, wouldn't they?

But then she heard someone groaning and stumbling behind her and she turned around, shocked by what she was seeing.

"Guess the view isn't for everyone…" Yang said. Ruby cautiously took a step backwards, knowing that what was about to come wouldn't be very pretty. Her poor big sister didn't possess that common sense, unfortunately. So when the moment-breaking highlight of their social interaction came, she was the one who got to experience it firsthand.

All over her shoes.

~0~

_Logbook entry: Day one- beacon_

_Beacon academy; the very first and real academy that actually educates young people in the ways of Hunting. While there are many schools and instances that can teach someone how to fight or operate a firearm, this school is the real deal. There are three generations as of this year: the first of which will be the most prominent. None of this is important though, until I figure out WHO TOOK MY BOWTIE!_

- Unknown entry

~0~

**Bam! There it goes: the first chapter of my newest fanfiction. Love it, hate it, but review it.**

**I love reviews. **

**See you next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Well, I am glad to say that my little sister actually enjoyed it; which is good.**

**Have I already stated that this story will most likely contain heavy amounts of AU? It is because I dislike having to follow a main already thought-out plot without adding some things of my own. So probably all of my stories will be AU in their set stages.**

**That being said I can add to it that you don't need to worry about any characters behaving…OOC…* shudders* any and all established characters will be there like you known 'em and love 'em.**

**Dragonslasher2O****: I am glad to see that you have such faith in me. I promise that I will not disappoint you and that I will update both the stories regularly! **

~0~

"_It suffices to say that all those new little people here on bacon –beacon academy will provide me with many new ways to experiment. Will they use blades? Guns? Dust? I already get excited when I simply think about it but…time is short and I can't use too much of it blabbering about new people. So…logging time! I did some research in my safehouse in Jericho-street and well…let's just say that a gun that shoots knifes AND lightning won't be realistic until I figure out how to prevent the VNN from broadcasting about the…potential… black-outs and power-outages that might have been caused…or not._

Logbook entry UNKNOWN

~0~

Beacon academy was in one word: breathtaking. The towers, the surroundings, the lake and the style it was all just so…unreal.

Ruby still couldn't believe that she had been invited to the Academy and had she not been asked by the Headmaster himself, she would expect somebody to jump out of a closet yelling 'surprise!' in her face and then kick her off the plane.

But that hadn't transpired and she was here, together with her big sister in a large airplane. The scale of things was out of proportions, just like their vehicle itself. It contained so much space…so much rooms…even with Yang by her side, she got lost several times when a general message was broadcasted over the speakers asking them to gather in the main dining hall.

The main dining hall! There were multiple places to eat onboard of this plane!

"But where is it…" She sulked. The message had been sent ten minutes ago and they were still wandering around the engine room of the ship. There was no food there!

"Don't worry sis, I am sure that we'll find it eventually!" Yang tried to cheer her up. It didn't work. Of course they would find it eventually, but they would be late. Everybody would already be there and they would all look at her and she would be ashamed of herself because she was late and everybody was looking at her.

And the food would probably be gone too...it was unacceptable! They needed to find the hall now!

"But we have been walking around the engines for five minutes now and we still have no idea how to get out of here!" She replied and desperately looked around again, hoping that a sign saying 'FOOD HERE' would pop up, or that a divine message would light her way out of there.

"Will you stop worrying? I am sure that everybody on this ship is new here. We'll probably run into somebody that can show us the way."

"You can say whatever you want…you don't need food as much as I do!" Ruby cried and crossed her arms. Yang wrapped one arm around her shoulders and pressed her against her.

"We all know that you need it to grow!" She rebutted and pulled her towards yet another hallway. "Now come on, we still have a hall to find."

The two of them continued on like that until they finally reached a corridor with a window in one of the tunnels. A window! She could see light!

And also a sign saying 'Engines' pointing at the direction they were coming from. So they had at least managed to clear out of the engine compartment; now they just had to find their ways towards any other compartment on the ship.

"What now?" She asked and looked out of the window. The airplane had slowed down considerably and now they were almost suspended still some distances away from the prestigious Academy. She longed to be down there…she hated flying. It did weird things with her mind.

And she was hungry. Very hungry. And lost. Very lost.

"We continue walking!" Yang replied and grabbed her hand. "Come on! We still have a ways to go!"

They walked down the hallway until they reached another intersection. There were no indicators of any form of direction whatsoever and which direction they needed to go was left to their imagination. There was a green light running down one direction and a blue one running down the other. It was funny to see how multiple lights in the floor could create such a funny looking lightshow.

"Eh…what?" Yang said disbelievingly. She looked down both corridors and shook her head. "This is crazy! Communication would be great people!"

Ruby sighed heavily and her head dropped. Now they would get lost again and she would not find the main dining hall and she would remain hungry…forever!

Wait a minute…what was that? There was something lying on the ground!

"What is that?" She asked out loud and kneeled down next to the object lying on the ground. "I have never seen this before…" She carefully extended a finger and proceeded to poke the thing multiple times. "It feels soft…I wonder who left it here?" She looked around her, hoping that somebody would appear to tell them where to go. "

"It looks like a…a bowtie… what is that doing here?" Yang mused and crossed her arms. "Let's just decide which direction to go and we'll see where we will stumble upon, shall we?"

Ruby frowned and poked the 'bowtie' one more time. It was weird that it was just lying there in the blue corridor…like somebody just left it there while moving through the intersection. Maybe…just maybe… somebody left it there when they were moving to the dining hall?

"Let's go this way…" She muttered and kept staring at the soft thing on the ground.

"You sure?" Yang replied.

"No…just a hunch…" She said and involuntarily smiled. This 'bowtie' was either a good indication as to where they needed to go or simply forgotten some time ago. Either way, it looked very funny and she didn't have a better idea.

"Well then, let's not waste any more time!" Yang said and Ruby got to her feet again.

"Yeah…let's go."

The two girls left the bowtie alone and proceeded down the blue path. Eventually the blue lights stopped and they reached a larger hallway. This one had windows every few feet and a small fountain in a corner. Finally, they had reached a place where living things might be. They just needed to find them.

"But at least the sight is amazing!" Yang said in an attempt to keep Ruby from brooding over the lost prospect of food. "I mean look at the size of that thing! How many people can live there do you think?"

"Hungry…" Ruby replied. If she didn't get food soon, she'd die. She was certain of it. Her body was deteriorating; she could see the light and her mind felt faint.

"Hey look!" Yang yelled with her back turned to her. "Finally a proper sign!"

Too. Hungry. To. Think…wait a minute… a sign? To food?

Ruby was immediately back on her feet and suddenly she stood next to her big sister. "Where! Where!"

"There!" Yang replied and pointed at a large arrow –which in turn pointed towards a ladder that stood in the middle of the hallway.

Really? They had to climb a ladder to get to the dining hall? That was ludicrous. "Looks like we need to go up-"

By the time he had formulated that sentence, Ruby had already disappeared.

"-there." The blonde finished and watched the ladder slowly stop shaking from its most recent climber. Then she sighed and smiled to herself. It looked like her little sister wasn't THAT worn out yet.

She climbed the ladder herself and found herself on the outer edge of a rather large room. It was large enough to accommodate multiple tables of at least ten by two meters, but there were only two other people sitting there. Ruby was standing in front of another table where she was getting something to eat.

"Eh…sis?" Yang asked and Ruby turned around. She had gathered a large plate of cookies and muffins and looked like she had already stuffed two of each in her mouth. How that was possible was beyond her.

"Mbyesh?" She replied. She assumed that Ruby meant to say 'yes' and continued. "We got lost around fifteen minutes ago…where are all the others?"

The younger girl looked at her with a blank expression and slowly brought another cookie to her mouth. It didn't look like she cared much for the other people on the ship now…but that was okay. First Ruby needed to get her body working properly again and then she could continue thinking and acting like an actual human being.

Yang smiled and walked up to the table that was the closest to her sister. The redhead brought her plate of cookies with her as she walked to join her there and sat it down.

"I take it that the rest of the crew is still lost?" She asked her. Ruby shrugged and continued to work her way through her cookies.

From the corner of her eye, Yang could see that the two other people in the hall stood up from their chairs and walked away –but curiously enough they split up and exited the hall through separate exits.

"What…" She muttered and looked around her surroundings again. She noticed multiple exits from the large dining hall which was curious…if there were multiple entries to the room, then were was everybody?

Unless…

"Ruby?" She asked. "I think we might have made a mistake."

Her sister swallowed and looked at her with a curious expression. "How so?"

"Remember how we were too late?"

"Yes…"

"The only persons still inside the room just left –I think that we might want to leave too."

Ruby stopped eating cookies long enough to think about it. "So if we were too late…and everybody is gone…then where are they?"

The two girls looked at the exit where the last people had just departed and then looked back at each other.

They draw their individual conclusions as soon as they heard a faint rumbling –which then intensified about seven times. The reason that the airship had stopped near beacon academy…that the hall was completely empty when they had arrived…was because they wouldn't be riding it to their destinations.

They would be riding dropships down to the surface.

They had completely missed the notes that were scattered all across the ship and as a result, they had almost missed the scheduled launches. And as Ruby and Yang hurried to make it to the hangar bay where they had to be in order to get to the academy, they could see multiple shuttles shoot past the windows in the hallway.

"I can't believe we missed the papers!" Yang yelled when she spotted one of the white coloured pages hanging on the wall.

"There were no such papers!" Ruby replied. She had been keeping an eye on everything that might have helped her reach the cookies before and the only thing that she noticed was the bowtie lying in the blue tunnel."

"Then how did everybody know to get to these shuttles!"

"Do I look like I know?"

"Let's not go that way."

Eventually the two of them reached the hangar bay and they stopped just in time to witness the second last dropship flying away. There was only one left now –but thankfully it wasn't very crowded. The two persons that had left the hall before they did were there and so was another person she hadn't seen before.

Great. Stuck on a small plane with three unknown people, thankfully Yang was still there with her.

There was a woman with aviator glasses on and her hair tied in a knot, who was directing them onboard of the ship. "Move it newcomers! You are cutting it way too close!"

Yang stopped to take a look at her and then said: "Cool glasses!" Before the woman could respond, the blonde jumped into the ship and the hatch closed behind her.

"Woo!" Yang yelled and pumped her fist in the air. "That was close!"

"Almost too close…" Ruby muttered and sighed explosively. This was just a fantastic beginning of her new career as a huntress. First she had gotten lost and then she had nearly missed her only ride to the academy. It wasn't exactly ideal…but maybe she had the worst that could happen already behind her? Maybe things would get better?

The shuttle she found herself in was of a rather interesting design. It had enough space for at least ten people to stand next to each other, but they couldn't sit down. They had to stand during the whole trip –even though it was only for a few minutes; it would be very uncomfortable if people had to stand the entire time when the shuttle would make trips that took longer than an hour.

Thank goodness that there were small leather straps above them which they could hold on to if the ride got a little bumpy.

"I have a feeling that this shuttle isn't holding together very well…" Yang muttered to her.

"Why is that?" Ruby asked, already beginning to dread her current situation. Yang softly and pointed to the wall that separated the cargo bay from the cockpit. There were multiple small tears and holes in the wall, but that alone wouldn't matter much.

What did matter was the tear in the metal plating below them. Ruby could actually see the rusty plates that stuck to the underside of their vessel.

"Ehm…" Ruby said. "I think that this ship needs replacement."

At the mention of 'replacement' the man standing next to her coughed like Yang had done to get her attention, but his cough was…with a lack of a better explanation…so suspicious that the amount of suspicious would be enough to get someone to believe that it wasn't suspicious at all.

That didn't even make sense!

"Yes?" She said to him. He turned to face her and tried to hide a smile, but he did so very badly.

"These tubs?" He said, "I have NO idea why they are being used right now."

Why didn't she believe him? His entire attitude was suggesting that he knew something about the situation, but he didn't work very hard to hide that obvious thought.

She shook her head and concentrated on the ride. It was getting increasingly bumpy and she could have sworn that they should have arrived at Beacon by now.

"Hang on!" The pilot suddenly cried from the cockpit. "Things are about to get wild!"

Wild? What? What was going on?

"Now might be the time to grab these things!" Yang yelled and grabbed the leather strap above her head. Everyone in the ship successfully followed her example, except for the man whom Ruby had talked to. He grabbed the strap above his head and with a loud 'snap!' it broke off the ceiling.

He held the useless piece in his hands and looked around him. Ruby saw that the two people who had entered the ship before her –a boy with blond hair and a girl with long, reddish hair- looked at him with shocked expressions.

"Well…" He started, but he never got to finish his sentence. The shuttle suddenly began to shake heavily and its inhabitants nearly got thrown across the cabin. The leather straps served their purpose and prevented those that held onto them from flying into the floor…into walls…against the ceiling.

Unfortunately now that the man was unable to hold onto anything, he was subjected to the powerful forces that dominated the ship's interior. Ruby could only wince in sympathy as she saw the man fly horizontally against a wall, before the ship tilted again and he was launched onto the roof.

The blonde kid made little pain-noises everytime the man hit another metal plate and Yang was…trembling? What was going on?

"Yang?" Ruby asked. "Are you-"

But she finished her sentence, she realized why Yang was trembling. She was having the giggles and had a very hard time not to openly laugh at the poor unlucky guy whose only form of protection against the heavy turbulence had broken merely because it was too old.

"This thing flies like a brick!" Ruby shouted over the heavy winds that were now pelting their craft. She thought that beacon academy was as close as a kilometer! She had even been able to notice the structures and buildings. How could they still be flying!

The man sailed past her and smacked into the wall behind them.

"Prepare for a rough landing." The pilot announced and Ruby could suddenly feel her stomach and other internal organs somewhere in her throat as the ship lurched downwards. What the hell was the pilot doing! How much trouble was it to pilot a dropship to a place as large as beacon academy!

The only person that was without bracing tumbled to a halt in one of the corners besides Yang, who was screaming "Woohoo!" with glee as the ship's interior began to resemble a washing machine more and more.

Then the terrible experience stopped and the ship was quiet again. Nothing was moving safe for the chest of the blond kid, which was rising and falling like crazy.

"Everybody off the ship!" The pilot told them and the doors opened. Ruby found herself unable to release her leather strap. It had seen her through the hardest and most nauseating rides in her life –she didn't want to let it go like that!

"It's alright sis…just let it go and grab my arm!" Yang said. With a trembling hand she reached up and peeled her other hand off the piece of leather.

"There you go! Now come on, we have to visit our new home!" Her big sister told her.

Oh that was right! This place would be their home now! The thought washed all her doubts and exhaustion from the ride away and she sprang out of the (crash)landed ship to follow her sister.

Back in the dropship, the blond boy was still breathing heavily. He had a kilometer-long stare in his eyes and the girl eyed him with concern.

The man who had taken the violent tumbling with grace suddenly sprang back to his feet and ran a hand through his hair. "Whoo! That was one of the better rides I've had in a while…"

The man wore a long brown coat and had a rather oversized bowtie pinned to his chest. "Now…let's see…"  
He spun around two times as be looked over the various dents and holes in the ship. His behaviour unsettled the girl, who slowly moved one of her arms to the weapon on her back. The man seemed to have lost his balance; he was waving back and forth like he was trying to stay balanced on a rope.

"Legs…unbroken, shoes…not stolen, bowtie- " He gripped the piece of clothing with both hands and let loose a relieved sigh. "Still cool."

Then the man stopped his erratic spasms and turned to face the boy –who was getting close to hyperventilating- and he smiled.

"Now then…Jaune I presume?"

The blonde didn't respond, which slightly worried him. He glanced at the girl with her long hair and serious expression and turned back to the male. "Why don't you breathe in through your nose and out through the mouth, yeah? Feel it in your belly –belly-breathing is awesome. Keep breathing and feel yourself relaxing."

Then he waved at the girl before jumping out of the dropship and disappearing, leaving the two completely flabbergasted.

~0~

The school was absolutely amazing! Ruby was slowly turning around while walking; trying to see everything she could before she moved on.

"Come on little sis!" Yang called. "Hurry up you slow-poke!"

"Wait up! I need to see this!"

The two of them had reached what looked like the main courtyard. There were multiple boys and girls already moving around, carrying luggage and the providing her with a first-class ticket to watch the most awesome weapons she had ever seen.

She loved weapons! They were absolutely fantastic and if anything could be described as the bee's knees, it should be those weapons!

"Hold up Yang!" Ruby yelled but her sister had already disappeared in crowd of other persons. Why was she always the people person? Everytime they went somewhere, Yang dealt in absolutes. She would either wrap the boys around her finger and become the mortal enemy of every girl available, or scare all the boys away and befriend every girl.

She didn't hold that much interest in a romantic relationship and wasn't actively looking for one, but she did know how to manipulate the males she did encounter. She either lured them into telling her information, or threatened them so intensely that they were scared into surrendering it.

So it didn't hit Ruby as a surprise when she saw her sister socialize with the people on the courtyard the instant she met them, but it did sadden her. Who was going to look after her now? Where would she-

-she didn't look where she was going and accidently bumped into someone. She was halfway into apologizing when the girl she had knocked into interrupted her, rather violently.

"What are you doing? Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused!"

"I am sorry!" She quickly said, but the girl she had wronged wasn't having any of it.

"Give me that!" She yelled and snatched the vial of dust from the ground that had rolled between her legs. She was carrying two coffins and one of them had sprung open, revealing several Dust crystals and other refined versions.

"This is _dust_- mined and purified from the Schnee quarry!"

Small puffs of the Dust had escaped the vial and splashed into her face, causing her nose to itch and her throat to slightly ache.

"Ahh…" Ruby moaned, feeling a major sneeze coming up. Her timing couldn't have been worse; if she sneezed right in this girl's face, she would only get angrier with her.

"Are you brain-dead! Dust, fire, water and lightning and energy!"

"I…I…nnnn…" Damnit Ruby, use your words! Make coherent sentences and more importantly, sense! And whatever you do, do not-

She sneezed violently and obscured the girl in front of her in an explosion of fire, lightning and little snowflakes. The little flask of Dust that the girl had been holding went sailing through the air and Ruby couldn't track it.

Finally the cloud dissipated and revealed a very scorched and _veerrry _angry girl

"Unbelievable! This is exactly what I was talking about!"

A small crater had appeared on the ground as she detonated the stuff and Ruby quickly saw that she had blown the first person she had met up with her own Dust. Great.

"I- I didn't mean to…I am sorry!" She stuttered, but the girl didn't listen to her.

"Why don't you watch out where you walk! Are you blind or something!" The white-dressed girl might have looked rather innocent with her pale eyes and long white hair, but her demeanor said something completely different. For sixty seconds long she continued to scold her, making her feel like she had just been reduced to one-fifth of her size.

"What are you even doing here; this is the real deal! Aren't you a little too young to be attending Beacon!"

"I-"

"And don't you realize that isn't your ordinary combat school, with some fire drills and weapon courses!"

Yes she had heard enough of that. She knew that she had messed up and she had said that she was sorry! What else was there to do!

"Hey princess, I said that I was sorry!"

"Heiress, actually." Huh? Who was that? A girl she had never seen before entered the fray. She had long black hair and was dressed in black clothes. Her eyes had a very serious expression and her voice sounded neutral, kept under careful control. She was holding the red bottle that had flown to its freedom.

"Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One of the largest producers of energy propellant in the world."

The girl known as Weiss smiled smugly and crossed her arms. "Finally, some recognition!"

"The same company infamous for its controversial labor forced and questionable business partners."

Damn. That was quite the accusation. That was bound to rile the pale girl up even more- Ruby wasn't too sure that she wanted to be near her when that happened.

Weiss blushed heavily when she heard that and was unable to form coherent sentences. In the end, she settled for something across the lines of "How dare you!" And simply snatched the bottle out of the other girl's hands. Then she stormed off, a few other people gathering her luggage and following her with it.

"I'll make it up to you!" Ruby yelled after her and then wiped some sweat of her brow. "That could have gotten ugly…thanks for your-"

But the other girl had already disappeared and she was alone again.

Ruby allowed her body to fall back on the ground and she groaned with embarrassment and frustration as she lay there flat on the ground.

Why did these sorts of things always have to happen to her? Yang would have never exploded when she met a new girl. At least not so literary. The fact that she wasn't so intensely good with meeting new people shouldn't have to mean that she'd spontaneously combust when she met one! It wasn't fair…

Then a hand appeared in her view and she instinctively grabbed it. The unknown person pulled her on her feet and brushed some of the dirt on her cape off of her.

"Are you alright?" He asked –for it was undoubtedly a male- and she looked at her helper. He looked a bit older than she was and had medium blond hair…and he looked strangely familiar…huh…

"Yes…I'm…fine, I guess…" She absentmindedly told him.

"Are you sure?" He replied. No of course she wasn't! She had just detonated the first person she had met!

"I…I had a small incident…" She carefully said while looking down at her feet. It was rather embarrassing to openly admit what had transpired.

"Was it that explosion with the Schnee girl?" He had seen what had happened

Of all the people to explode in the face…she had picked one of the most richest and powerful families in all of Vale. Oh her actions were just perfect!

She groaned and slowly nodded, confirming his thoughts. "Oh well…he responded and gave her a pat on her shoulder. "At least you didn't grab the only loose bracing strap back on the plane!"

It took Ruby a few moments to process what said and then she realized why the guy looked so familiar to her. "You were back on the dropship with us!" She yelled and pointed a finger at him. Then the remainder of his sentence made it to her brain and that too was processed. The man back on the plane who had literary seen every corner of its interior…he had made an even bigger fool out of himself than she had done.

She couldn't help herself and giggled at the memory. "See!" The guy said and laughed too. "It could be worse!"

Then he pointed his thumb at his chest and said: "My name is Jaune. Who are you?"

She smiled at him and told him her name. "I am Ruby. Can I see your weapons?" She added. The boy seemed taken aback by her interest in him, but complied anyway.

"This is my sword…" He said and pulled a shining metal sword out of the sheath on his back. "And this is my shield…they belonged to my grandfather." He activated something on the piece of metal and it expanded into a bronze shield shaped like a leaf.

"That is cool!" Ruby said, then she noticed that the sword didn't do anything special. "But what use is that?"

"My shield can compress itself so that it becomes easier to carry! It lightens the burden of my weapons."

That didn't make a whole lot of sense. "Wouldn't it just weigh the same?" She asked him. Physics hadn't been her best subject…

The boy sighed and his head dropped. "Yes…so what is your weapon then?"

Ruby unfolded her Crescent Rose and leaned against the handle. "This is Crescent Rose."

"Wow!" The boy said honestly and his eyes became big. "That is a beautiful scythe!"

She activated the secondary function and unfolded the sniper rifle. "It is also a high-powered sniper rifle!"

"Damn…" The boy muttered. It was funny that he would show up on the school with such simple weaponry. He had better be VERY good with them.

Wait a minute…they had been told to assemble in the dorms. Where were those supposed to be?

"Any idea where we need to go?" Ruby said while they were walking. She had no intention of getting lost AGAIN.

"I was actually hoping that you knew the way…hence me…following you.:"

Right. So she was lost.

"Do you think that…you know…there are signs or something to lead the way?"

Oh Jaune…you have no idea of the gravity of the situation.

~0~

It took the two some time to locate the nearest collection of people, but when they did it became obvious to Ruby that she had hit the right place. There were many people gathered in what looked like an auditorium, with a stage and a microphone. She could see a girl with large amounts of blond hair and guessed that it would have to be Yang. She knew that she was right when the girl turned around and started waving and yelling at her.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Yes. That was Yang alright. She turned to Jaune and said: "Gotta go. S-see you after the ceremony I guess!"

"Wait!" He replied, but she had already left. She did not notice the tall girl with long, red hair standing behind her, looking at Jaune with a hint of amusement in her eyes.

"How's your first day going little sister?" Yang asked her happily.

"You mean after you ditched me and I exploded!" Ruby retorted with a sharp edge in her voice.

"Yikes; meltdown already?" Her sister replied in a shocked tone.

"No, literally! I exploded and caused a hole in front of the school! There was fire…and ice…a terrible monster and also some pretty snowflakes."

Yang smiled broadly at her and she realized that she wasn't taking her seriously. "Are you being sarcastic with me?" She said.

Damnit Yang! It wasn't sarcasm-time yet; it had yet to become evening. "I wish. I tripped over a really crabby girl and I was very sorry and then she yelled at me and she kept yelling and I had to sneeze and then I exploded and-"

She took a deep breath before she continued. "And she yelled at me some more and more and I felt really really bad and she wouldn't stop yelling and she was being very scary and mean!"

"YOU!" Someone yelled behind her. She recognized that voice…that terrible, hateful and cold voice. It was a sound that came straight from her nightmares and it would probably reoccur in those too."

"Eek!" She shrieked and jumped in the air out of fear. Thankfully her big sister was there to catch her frightened little body and she was safe. At least for a while. "Oh god it's happening again!"

"You're lucky you weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Weiss sneered at her. The girl had appeared out of nowhere, how in the hell did she do that? Was she a demon? She had to be!

"Oh dear god you really exploded." Yang said, mildly shocked by the condition's that her little sister could get herself into.

"I told you so!" She replied and carefully moved out of her sister's arms. Then she turned to face Weiss.

"It was an accident, it was-"

Weiss interrupted her by holding a yellow pamphlet out in front of her. "What is this?" Ruby asked her and the pale girl looked happy to inform her. She began to list a large number of sentences and rules that sounded like they should appear on the bottom side of a large list of Terms of Usage and Services.

"What?" She replied, not knowing what was going on.

"Do you want to make things up to me?" Weiss then said.

"Absolutely!"

She extended the pamphlet again and said: "Then read this and never talk to me again."

"Come on you two!" Yang said and tried to intervene with the two. "It is obvious that you two got off on the wrong foot. Why don't you simply start over?"

"Yes!" Ruby said. She was so thankful to her big sister! She couldn't have possibly done this alone! She extended her hand to the girl and tried to sound as friendly as she could. "Hello Weiss, I am Ruby. Wanna hang out together? Maybe shop for school supplies?"

"Yes!" Weiss replied, much to her surprise. "And we can paint our nails, make warm chocolate and talk about boys! Like tall, blonde and scraggly over there!" She pointed at Jaune and her expression turned rather dark. It was obvious that she was being sarcastic, but why? It was a nice proposal?

"You are not serious are you?" Ruby asked her in a soft tone.

Weiss glared at her for a few seconds before replying. "No."

Yeah. That was what she thought. It was really unnecessary how she behaved against her, even after she had taken the initiative to apologize and start over!

Thankfully Headmaster Ozpin stepped onto the stage and immediately drew all attention towards him. Then he proceeded to give a speech that could put Glynda Goodwitch to shame; it spoke of how privileged they were and that they should behave that way…how screwed they were if they didn't give it their all and how some of them were already screwed.

Eventually, Miss Goodwitch replaced him on the stage and she scraped her throat. "You will gather in the ballroom tonight. Tomorrow, your initiation will begin. Dismissed!"

That meant that they needed to get the hell out of her auditorium.

~0~

Day two: 17:00 hours

Headmaster Ozpin had finally achieved a little bit of rest and peace for the day. After the terrible logistical organization that had been responsible for moving the students had done their job well and written down who had received the sabotaged standing places in the dropships, he had appeared to deliver a striking speech to the waiting students. It was frustrating and hard to see all those new potential Hunters and Huntresses faffing about, doing nothing worthwhile on their first day.

The second ship had arrived too and the newcomers had received their speech even as the first group had. So everyone was dismissed and sent to the ballroom where they would spend the night and now that it was evening, it was time for more serious business.

A soft knock sounded on his door and he answered it. "Open."

The door opened at his word and a figure entered the room, clad in black and carrying a helmet underneath his arm. Ozpin raised his eyebrow at the sight of that piece of equipment; a large tear had rented the faceplate from the upper left corner down to the lower middle. It was curious to see that such a vital piece of armour could be so damaged. There was no way anyone could have survived such a powerful hit to the face and live; not without permanent scarring. The person standing in his office didn't have any major scarring in his face, so that left only one option for the helmet to have gotten have damaged like that. Collateral damage after a mission. Explosive or firefight? He couldn't tell.

The person in his office snapped to attention and saluted him. "Two-Oxford reporting for duty sir."

His voice was sharp and to the point, his attitude suggested a no-nonsense mentality. Good, he could appreciate that. There was something about the guy that was off, though…apart from the obvious.

"Do you know why you were called here?" Ozpin asked him.

"There weren't any details sir." The guy was still standing at rapt attention and the Headmaster didn't like dealing with his kind too much. Soldiers in Vale. It seemed to…useless. He was training dozens of Hunters and Huntresses that could protect the country –so why was there any need for a soldier?

"You may stand at ease…" He said and once again grabbed the dossier that was sent to him a while back. It was rather…confusing to read. There were many missing sentences and words so the dossier looked way off.

"I will ask you again. Do you know why you are here?"

"To do my duty sir."

He was to the point alright. The kid couldn't be older than seventeen…Ozpin hadn't seen people like him in a long time. He slowly reached for his cup of coffee and was lightly disturbed to see that it was already empty. Had he already drank the coffee? That was disappointing. He would have to get more after this –the kid's presence was beginning to unnerve him. As approving as he felt about his mentality, he still disliked soldiers. Well, he didn't disliked soldiers.

He hated them. Vale was better off without soldiers running around shooting people.

"I have read your file. There are a number of instances where your…experience…can prove invaluable. This, however, means that you will have to…integrate with our Academy for some time."

The kid's facial expression remained unchanged, but body language could betray so many things to the trained eye. And while Ozpin wasn't the most capable man out there when it came to body language, he was still able to detect a great many things from this person's nonverbal communication.

He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and his shoulders sagged a little bit. His entire demeanor looked like he was…nervous?

A trained soldier like him being nervous when faced with the task to blend in with other human beings and having to socialize at a daily basis? How very weird.

"Integrate sir?" He asked. It looked like the prospect of his job was not very enticing to him.

"Yes. We will have an initiation tomorrow. You will start your operation this very evening and join the academy's ranks for as long as it takes.

The male didn't respond for about ten seconds and Ozpin could have sworn that he was being thoughtful. That was a first. He was probably processing the issued order in his mind, which would take him a while.

"Yes sir."

Good. In the end he decided to follow the order that his superior gave him. Point for him.

"You will be located to…" Ozpin grabbed the Dossier once again and thought about the possibilities. "…the western hangar bay, number five."

"Sir."

"Well then… you are dismissed." The soldier saluted and then turned around and exited his office. Dealing with such people was always…troublesome. And his lack of coffee was even more troublesome; he needed some more and he needed it very soon.

He sighed and stood up from his desk. It was time to venture into the late-day coffee room and face potential colleague's in their own search for coffee. It was a very wanted product, after all.

~0~

Yang had been touring the Academy for half an hour now and she had seen some fabulous things. Some fabulous people as well, quite exotic and unique in their personalities and little traits. It was funny to see how people could act so differently in the same situation. Like her little sister, for example.

Ruby had been very nervous for the upcoming initiation and she could see it. The fact that she had skipped two years and immediately started at Beacon was nagging at her for some strange reason. Couple that with the incident with the Schnee girl and you had a very…big combination of stress.

She tried her best to get her little sister to relax, but it didn't always work well. Tonight would be another opportunity for her to blow some steam off; Ruby and she would both be sleeping in the same room together with two other people. She would get the little redhead to socialize with other people and with some brand-new friends, her stress levels would drop significantly.

Well, she would see about that soon. She had collected the stuff she would need to spend the night and as she rounded the corner, she noticed that there was an intersection at the end of the current hallway. If she went to the left, she would eventually get to her room where her little sister was already placing all her stuff. To the right was…well, probably another adventure but not her destination for now.

As she approached the corner, another person walked out of the other entrance. Both of them were coming in very fast and they were too close. '

Yang didn't want to bump into somebody again in one day; the last time she did the person had nearly flown out of the window and only a timely intervention from her part prevented the poor guy from falling down the three-story building.

What was his name again? John? Jaun? Something like that.

So as she and the person coming out of the hallway neared each other, she spun to her side and placed her back against the wall to let him pass. These halls were just too narrow!

But he did the same thing –repositioning his balance to let her pass without incident. Curious; she hadn't thought any of the males on this academy to simply let a girl pass without some flirting whistle or an enticing look. But this guy? He didn't even do as much as glance in her general direction. He just let her pass and continued on his way without looking back at her.

That was very strange…a male letting her walk past him without giving her attention? It wasn't that she enjoyed the negative attention, but she had gotten a bit used to it. Needless to say, when someone didn't even look at her when walking past her in the hall that guy would either be blind…or gay… or both.

"Hey!" She yelled and crossed her arms while she leant against the wall. The person turned around and faced her –but only for a second. Then his eyes wandered off again.

Not to her chest, like most people did when looking at her, but to a point about a meter to her left. She didn't think anything about it though; never judge someone by his weird little habits but only by their weird big habits.

He didn't answer her with words; he just stood there looking at that oh-so very interesting point at the wall. Perhaps he was nervous! How silly, she didn't bite…often. "You have a name?" She asked him.

"Irrelevant." He said and then turned to leave again, leaving a somewhat confused Yang. Irrelevant? What kind of a name was that supposed to be? She shook her head and proceeded down the intersection to her dormitory. Irrelevant…that was another word for not important, right? Why would his name not be important? Perhaps he was referring to her as not important.

Nah…he wouldn't have politely stepped out of the way to let her pass if he had viewed her that way. In the end, it didn't matter either way. It was just another guy with his own personality and she would simply respect him for it like she did with everyone that had their own personalities.

Unless she disagreed with them of course.

She reached the ballroom and was not surprised to see that there were already some students sleeping on the ground in their sleeping bags. She could spot Ruby on the far side of the room and smiled to herself as she saw that her little sister was busy writing a letter.

The blonde crashed next to her on the ground and realized that the dormitory could be closed off by tactically placed doors on its sides. How convenient! She needed to change to her pajamas and that way, she would be sure that nobody could peep.

With that knowledge in the back of her head, she still changed awfully quick for her doing. She lay down next to her little sister and noticed that she was already done with the letter.

"It's like a big slumber party!" She said with a cheerful voice.

"Pretty sure dad wouldn't approve of all the boys…" Ruby said absentmindedly. Yang remembered the multiple half-naked boys she had seen –and Jaune in his pajamas- and giggled a bit. "I sure don't!" She said and couldn't help but look down at her sister's letter again.

"What's that?" She said.

"A letter to my friends at Signal. I wanted to let them know how Beacon Academy is."

That was just so adorable!

"How cuuuuute!" She jested and caught a pillow to the face for her troubles.

"Shut up!" Ruby responded and readied another pillow should she have another smart remark. "I don't make friends that easily and you already have lots of them! I simply miss my friends at signal…"

"But…" Yang tried to think of someone that her sister could count as a friend and remembered the blonde guy again. "Jaune seemed pretty nice, you can count him as your friend right? There you go! One hundred percent increase in friendship right there!"

"Pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend…" Ruby muttered and put the letter away. Yang couldn´t argue with that unfortunately, so she simply chose to make the next smart remark she could think of. ``Technically…there is no such thing as a negative friend. You simply made an enemy on your first day little sis-"

Her words got cut off as the next pillow hit her in her face. She laughed and brushed the thing away, only to see Ruby brandish another one. Where did she even get those?

"Look!" She said and held up her hands to prove her innocence. "All I'm saying is that this is just your first day…you will make lots of new enemies – I mean friends!" She quickly corrected herself. "You just haven't met them yet."

Then a new shadow was cast on the wall behind them and both sisters looked up to spot the new source of light. A girl with a black buttoned vest with coattails and a white undershirt was sitting in the corner, reading a book. She was wearing long black socks and stockings that started black but slowly faded to purple on her legs.

"That girl…" Ruby muttered and Yang felt her attention being drawn to the mysterious girl sitting there. So ruby knew this girl? A cunning plan already arose in her mind and she asked her sister where she knew her from.

"She was one of my explosion-witnesses…" She simply stated. That meant that this girl had met her before! So it was time to set her cunning plan in motion.

"Well there you go!" She said and grabbed her little sister's arm.

"What are you doing…let me go!" Ruby whispered but Yang pretended that she didn't hear her. When they were close enough to the black-garbed girl, she looked up from her book and made eye-contact.

"Helllooooo!" She said cheeringly and ignored the redhead's swearing and grumbling as she pulled her closer. I believe you two have met before?"

The girl looked at Ruby and she frowned a bit. "Aren't you the girl who exploded?" She then asked, causing a pit to form in Yang's stomach. As far as prejudges went, one that was based on a spontaneous combustion was pushing it a little far. Maybe it was just cognitive association that linked her memory of Ruby to the event of her detonating?

"Well…yes, as a matter of fact…" The redhead responded, before she realized that a proper conversation with a stranger started with an introduction. "But you can just call me Ruby!"

Her conversational partner looked at her for a couple more seconds before she refocused on her book. "Okay."

Hmmm…Ruby was really terrible at this. "What are you doing?" She hissed at her little sister. Said sister then turned to face her with an expression bordering on panic. "I have no idea, help me I am very scared!"

Sigh. Yang to the rescue…again.

"So…what's your name?" She said and poked Ruby in her ribs when she noticed her trying to leave.

"Blake…" She replied and tried to get back to reading. Like hell she was getting away without conversing with her little sis!

"Hi Blake, I am Yang! Ruby's big sister. I like your bow!"

Yang didn't notice that Blake's eyelid twitched, but Ruby did. "Thanks. It's as lovely as this book…which I will continue to read…as soon as you leave."

Well…so much for trying to socialize. Maybe she could find someone else that Ruby could talk to…

But her little sister was still staring at Blake with a doubtful expression on her face. In the end, she sighed and knelt down next to the girl.

~0~

Ruby had a weird feeling…call it a hunch. Sometimes it simply happened when she looked at people and when she looked at this girl, she had that weird feeling again. She realized that she was annoyed at them trying to poach her into interacting with them, just like she was. But Yang was right about the fact that it was good for their development. If she could just converse with this girl about something that mattered…something which was significant…then she would come out of her shell of isolation and talk with her like a normal person.

Or at least that was what she thought.

"What's it about?" She asked, ignoring her big sister's remark.

"What?" The girl replied, obviously taken aback by Ruby's question judging by the look of mild surprise on her face.

"Your book…does it have a name?" She continued.

"Well…" Blake said and sounded doubtful for a second. Then her urge to talk with someone about the things that kept her busy probably won over her desire to stay alone and she replied, suddenly sounding more sure of herself now that she could talk about something she liked. "It is about a man with two souls. They are constantly fighting for control over his body and the man slowly descends into madness…why do you ask?"

Gotcha. "I love books!" Ruby replied gently. Now that she had lured the girl into talking openly, she could perhaps get her to trust her a bit. "Yang used to read books to me all the time when I was a kid. Stories about monsters and heroes…they are one of the reasons that I wanted to become a Huntress."

Blake smiled faintly and her eyes warmed up a bit. "Why is that? Do you want to live happily ever after?"

Now it was Ruby's turn to smile. "Everyone does eventually…but I want to become like the heroes described in those stories. To protect the people I care about and those that can't protect themselves."

Blake's smile widened a centimeter. "That's…very ambitious for a child." Then her smile turned into a frown. "But…unfortunately the world isn't like a fairy tale."

Her sudden change of demeanor indicated that she either had personal experience with an unhappy world, or that she had very strong beliefs concerning the topic. Either way, this was getting sensitive.

"Well…" Ruby slowly started. "I think that is why we are here-" She gestured around the room and smiled to Blake, who was watching her with some curiosity. "To make the world a better place."

Before Blake could reply, Yang decided that now would be an excellent time to hug and crush her little sister.

"Oh I am so proud of my little sis!" She cried and Ruby tried desperately to fight the violent embrace. Their little bonding scene turned into a sudden turmoil when she escaped her sister's grip and attacked her in return. The two of them wrestled for a second while Blake simply watched them with a new –and broader- smile on her lips.

"Well, Ruby…Yang, it has been a pleasure to have-"

Before the dark-clothed girl could finish her remark the improvised doors slammed open and Ruby felt a cold chill run down her neck. This unearthly presence…this evil scent…it couldn't be –it was impossible!

She turned around just in time to see Weiss Schnee standing in the door-opening. Ruby wasn't sure who was the biggest moment-ruiner; her or Yang, but it didn't matter. What did matter was that Blake had almost opened up a little to the outside and now she had interrupted her! That was very asocial.

"What on earth are you guys doing!" She snapped at them. "Don't you savages realize that people are trying to sleep here!"

"Oh no…not you again…" Yang groaned and brought a hand up to her face in an attempt to block the current events from being remembered. Blake subtly rose her book just enough for her head to be obscured and Weiss scowled at the blonde's remark.

Ruby realized that Weiss wasn't making any friends with this behaviour and tried to defuse the situation before it escalated into something worse. "Sshhh! She is right guys; we have to be quiet now!"

Weiss turned to face her and her expression meant trouble. "Oh so now you are on my side?"

"I was always on your side!" She returned.

"What's your problem with my sister; she is only trying to be nice!" Yang yelled.

"Please be quiet…" Blake muttered but nobody heard her.

"Guys…" Ruby tried to calm them down. She too was ignored.

"She is a hazard to my health!" Weiss rebutted and the two girls stared at each other with an angry expression. Blake sighed again and reached for her candle. Then she softly blew it out at the same time Ruby hit the light-switch and the room was covered in darkness.

"I think we should go to sleep…" Yang whispered.

"Great idea…" Blake replied.

~0~

Day two: 20:00

Hmm…this Academy was quite well-designed. He totally didn't get lost his first time trying to find the office he wanted to reach.

He knocked on the door and waited for it to open. It wasn't exactly the best moment of the day to communicate with the owner of that room, but SHE had called HIM over.

The door opened and a blond woman opened the door. Her eyes were strict…very strict. He had no doubts about it; if he messed up she would have his ass in a sling. That was why he had been preparing himself for some time now. When the situation turned south, he would talk like he had never talked before…that day. He would distract the evil woman and then quickly flee through the window.

"Miss Goodwitch! How very nice to see you again!"

"Save it. I didn't call you here to hear you blabbering about useless things; I have a very tight schedule."

"What is wrong with blabbering about? We could talk about the weather…about Ozpin…about coffee…about new students…about Ozpin…"

"Am I wasting my time?"

"No miss. The initiation is ready; I have scouted the Emerald Forest and it would seem that it is very capable of presenting a challenge to our new students."

"MY new students. Not yours."

"Yes, well that is debatable. According to your schedule, the students have two hours to prepare themselves tomorrow. After that, it will be time for them to show us what they are worth."

"Yes I know that…wait a minute, you looked through my schedule?

Damn. He had said too much. Now Goodwitch would proceed to tear his eyes out and- wait a minute! He had one Glynda-escape kit with him; he could escape this situation!

"Well, before you do anything you should know that Ozpin is out of coffee. Again. He gets grumpy when his coffee is gone and you wouldn't want to see him getting grumpy, right? So…I noticed this…"

He handed the woman a picture with two packs of coffee beans. "I found these two…interesting items a few hour ago. It would be a shame if someone were to…rig them up with explosives and detonate them in two minutes?"

Glynda pinched the bridge of her nose with her left hand and sighed explosively. "You rigged the last supplies of coffee with explosives?"

He smiled at her and clasped his hands behind his back. "Pretty much."  
The blond woman stared at him with deadly intent in her eyes for a few seconds. Then she sighed again and closed the door behind her. "Very well…I shall retrieve the packs of coffee and you will stay right here, not moving an inch and not touching ANYTHING in my office. Are we clear?"

"Yes ma'am!" He said and saluted her. Then he watched her leave her office as she began her race against the clock to get coffee for Ozpin.

Good…now to break open the door. She had something in there that belonged to him.

~0~

"_It seems that the start of the third year at Beacon Academy is paired with some major trouble in Vale. The amount of gossip over possible Grimm sightings is rising every day and there are more and more gangs slowly getting out of control. The Vale Police Department his having a hard time controlling everything and my dear friend Ozpin has already decided that the third-year students are competent enough to be send on missions against the crime in the city. In groups of course."_

"_Who is in there?"_

"_Just ignore it…I wonder if the new group of students is so good that Ozpin wants to send them too… it would make for one heck of a practical training right?"_

"_Is there someone in my office? Come out at once you scandal!"_

"_Damnit…eehm…signing off?"_

- UNKNOWN logbook entry illegally taped in Glynda Goodwitch's office, 20:07 hours.

~0~

**Yay! Chapter two! **

**Let me know what you think about it in the form of a review; like it, hate it, but review it! :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three people: perhaps some of you already know what will happen, perhaps some don't. **

**Dragonslasher20:**** Thank you for your continuing reviews. Did you know that you are the first reviewer? And not just somebody making a one-time appearance; you have actually reviewed twice now! I wanted to thank you for that; I like to think that (Among other things) fanfictions are rated by the positive reviews they receive. So it goes without saying that I really appreciate your feedback :) **

~0~

"_Vale is protected by the Order of Hunters and Huntresses. We don't need soldiers in our land because we aren't at war. Crime is to be controlled by the police and there are no monsters of Grimm anywhere near major population Centers. We need Academies, not barracks. We need Hunters, not bloodbaths! We need people who can be trusted and relied upon. People who will become heroes!"_

- 1st Representative of the Embodiment of Governing, major political faction in Vale.

~0~

Third day, 7:55:67

The day had finally arrived! It was finally today! She had been waiting for so long and the moment was finally at hand! It was the day of the Initiation, the major event that Headmaster Ozpin had planned for the students of Beacon Academy to prove what they are worth. Now she could finally show everyone what she was made off!

Ruby had woken up five minutes before her alarm could wake her. Her excitement for the coming day was so intense that her body had actually set a biological clock for her that would wake her up a few minutes before her clock did.

The people sleeping around her hadn't noticed it, but she had set the alarm to wake them as soon as the clock hit 8:00. That way she had all the time she needed to make the necessary preparations and steady her mind for what was to come. There would be no coming too late for her! She would be the first on the site and that way everyone could see how dedicated she was.

The only problem would be the potential consequences of waking every single new student on beacon Academy with her clock. So that was why she had set its volume very low; so that it would only wake the people that were sleeping around her. And the only persons who were sleeping around her were her big sister Yang and the girl with the bow, Blake.

Had she forgotten someone? Nah, probably not.

7:57.

Just three minutes left and then she could spring to action! She could wake her dear Crescent Rose from her slumber together they would be very awesome!

7:58.

What would the initiation be? Would the entire school be watching them? She would be in trouble if that was the case; she didn't really work well under pressure. But how high would the chances be when it came to everyone watching her? Every single student would have to act in the Initiation. That meant that there would be multiple dozens of students running around. How likely would it be for someone to be watching her?

Well…there would always be someone watching her. And she would feel that person watching her and she would feel the pressure increasing and-

But that wouldn't be very likely to happen, right?

7:59.

The main lockers where their gear and equipment was stored were only a few minutes away from the hall where they were currently sleeping. In theory she could get dressed, brush her teeth and eat breakfast in only a few minutes. After that, she would race to the lockers and get ready for action! There were bathrooms scattered everywhere so she would have no trouble going through her morning rituals. After that, she would grab a quick bite in the dining hall and then she would be of!

8:00.

Her alarm went off and her heart skipped two beats. She had completely forgotten that she had set the alarm! Her intense focus on the coming minutes had completely purged the memory of her little clock. The sudden and still very loud alarm nearly killed her, so nervous had she been!

It took her a few seconds to scramble around in a desperate search for the clock and when she found it, she had suddenly lost every memory of how to operate the thing. Was she supposed to break the glass and tear the pointy things out? Or should she tear them out before she broke the glass? Wait, that didn't even make sense! Was there a password or a code on the damn thing? How would she-

"Here, let me." Someone grabbed the Clock out of her hands and quickly deactivated it.

"Yang!" Ruby yelled and was relieved to see her big sister coming to her aid. "You saved me!"

"What, from the evil clock? " The blonde jokingly said and she set the little device down. "Were you actively planning to wake everyone up?"

"Well…" She said and didn't know what else to say. She had been so preoccupied with waiting that she had forgotten to wait, which allowed the alarm she had been waiting on to catch her off guard…because she wasn't waiting. It was too complicated to even think about!

Her head hurt…

"I guess I'm just a bit nervous…" She said and her sister laughed.

"Well of course you are, we are about to-"

"Hey!" Someone said and nearly caused her another cardiac arrest. Noises had to stop nearly killing her! She turned around and saw Weiss coming through the set of doors. "What's with all the noise? People are sleeping here!" She hissed and nodded to the rest of the sleeping students.

"I am sorry!" Ruby said, furious with herself for forgetting her alarm like that. What was wrong with her! She had once again managed to cause a problem with the Schnee girl!

"People have actually been getting up for quite some time now…" The calm voice of Blake Belladonna said.

"What!" Ruby squealed. Damnit! She should have been the first! Why did things never go according to plans? There was no time to lose!

"Then let's get the party on the road!" Yang yelled and grabbed her hand. "Breakfast very quick and then action very fast!"

That didn't even make sense. She was right though, but it still didn't make sense.

Their breakfast was actually very enjoyable. Scrambled eggs and bacon were the best! Even though other people had woken up before she had, he morning was still going splendid. She and Yang then proceeded to move to the locker room, where they could finally don their weapons and equipment. But it quickly became apparent that they weren't the only ones getting ready for the Initiation.

~0~

7:50

"Morning Ren!" A very happy voice said. He felt someone poking him in his face and he sighed. So much for acting like he was sleeping; he should have known better. It was practically impossible for him to fool Nora.

The stupid thing was that he actually DID know better. He had known her for most of his life now and if there was one thing that he had learned in all of those years…it was that Nora had learned nearly everything there was to learn about him.

"Morning Nora…" He replied. For the next ten minutes the girl proceeded to tell him virtually all of her strategies she had come up with. He didn't really listen to half of those, but by now he knew just how to give Miss Valkyrie the impression that he was in fact listening to her. It was a carefully thought out and well balanced combination of making and avoiding eye-contact, slowly nodding when her voice reached the appropriate amount of excitement and making small "aha" and "Hmm…" Noises when her sentence reached a question mark.

"Sloths!" She yelled at last, actually catching him off guard. They had reached the dining hall and he was enjoying a delicious bundle of pancakes. He nearly responded with "Yes…" before he realized what she had said.

"Ehh…Nora? I don't think Sloths make noises at all." He told her and hoped that she would discard the weird idea. She was desperate to get in a team together with him and to be honest; he wanted to team up with her too. He was just being more…rational about it.

Or at least he liked to think that.

She kept talking throughout the entire morning, until they both reached the locker room.

"I really want to be on the same team as you Ren!" Nora sighed and dreamily looked into the distance. He smiled and thought about the possibilities of a future where they were teamed up on Beacon.

"I know…" He said and grabbed his Storm Flowers. But first they had to survive the Initiation…and that would be problematic.

~0~

7:45

Well…the day was finally there. The horrifying Initiation. The moment where he would have to prove what he was worth in Beacon Academy and where he would find out who his teammates would be. It wasn't exactly a very pleasant thought, but at the very least he could hope that he got to join some attractive girls in the team.

Jaune Arc sighed and slowly walked to the dining hall, his shoulders hanging and his hair being completely terrible. He hadn't even gotten a good night's sleep! How was he supposed to survive the Initiation when he was half asleep!

And how was he supposed to even sleep on such a hard floor with nothing but a sleeping-bag underneath him? It was ridiculous. His first night was more terrible than all the nights in his life; including the one where he had accidentally set fire on his blanket.

Jaune really hoped that it wasn't an omen for the coming event.

He slowly dumped his body at the table and began planning what he would eat for his breakfast. In his sleepy demeanor, he didn't notice the red-haired girl entering after him. She gave him a curious glance, but then focused on her own breakfast.

By the time he had eaten his fill, he realized that he would still have to gather his equipment. But where would he need to go? He couldn't really remember where he had placed his stuff…he knew it was in a locker and he knew that he had a pamphlet with the written code of his personal locker on it, but that was about it. Was he just supposed to wander around aimlessly until he stumbled upon it? That didn't really seem a very attractive prospect.

"Are you lost?" Someone asked him. It sounded…female? Was a girl asking whether he was lost or not? Things were suddenly turning for the better!

"Yeah I…can't seem to find my way to the locker room…could you…you know…"

"Help you? Yeah, sure!"

Damn. She actually wanted to help him find his way around the school? That was really nice of her.

"So what's your name?" She asked him. A girl was interested in his name? That was a first!

"J-Jaune…" He muttered. Why? Why did he have to stutter like that when he was only naming himself?

"Hello Jaune!" She said. "My name is Pyrrha, it's nice to meet you!"

She was really pretty. Her long, red hair was collected in a waist-length ponytail and she had bright green eyes. She appeared to be already fully equipped; wearing fancy golden and brown armour that ended in a red skirt. Was she carrying a long red and gold spear with her? That looked awesome!

Together with Pyrrha, he managed to find the room where he had stuffed his gear in his locker. If only he knew where to find said locker… his pamphlet said that he had his weapons in locker 14.31…where the hell would that be? Was that even correct?

"Bye Jaune, my locker is over there!" The redhead said and left his side.

"Oh…bye Pyrrha!" He said. He grabbed the paper and tried to decipher his own handwriting. "Ridiculous!" He said and didn't notice the sisters he passed by looking at him with incredulous expressions. "There's no way I put my gear in locker14.31! I would have remembered such a hard number…oh, why does this have to happen today!"

~0~

5:55

He had slept enough; seven hours of sleep were long enough for him and it was useless to sleep out when he was awake now. He stood and flexed his joints; they felt a little stiff.

His superiors had told him that he had to reach Beacon Academy ASAP and that he should only take enough gear with him to see him through a medium firefight and nothing else, so he wouldn't be slowed down. And just like that he had left the usual survival gear behind and took only a few weapons and the bare necessity of equipment with him.

That meant sleeping on the ground without anything to cover himself should the weather decide to take a bad turn. It wasn't that bad though; Beacon was dry and warm and he wouldn't have needed the gear on his first night here anyway.

He might have needed it the first night when he was still traveling towards the pick-up point, when it was storming, but that was then and this was now.

The Headmaster Ozpin had planned an Initiation event where he would test the individual combat skills of the new students and determine which teams he would form. The students would have to bring certain artifacts with them to prove that they had successfully made the journey.

Ozpin was his superior until further notice, which meant that he had to obey the man's orders. That logically resulted in him having to take part in the planned Initiation.

And that meant he had to play along with the students…perhaps even walk among them. A snag in his mission already.

He started the usual morning exercises to warm himself up and get his body in working mode. It wouldn't do to get cramped up in the middle of a fight and he had nothing else to do for now.

Was it normal at this Academy for students to get up around six? Would he attract attention if he prepped himself in a few minutes and then showed up at the cliffs where he needed to be? It would probably the smartest thing to show up at the same time as most of the students would, to prevent himself from attracting unwanted attention. But in order for him to arrive at the same time as other people, he would be forced to join them in their journey at some point. Which would mean pointless social interaction.

This was a lose-lose situation; the mission was already getting more and more complicated and the bullets had yet to start flying. Perhaps he would simply grab his gear and move to the cliff on his own; it would be better that way.

It took him a minute to find his armoured rucksack in the empty hangar bay, but he found it eventually. It was, for all intents and purposes, an armoured backpack that could be attached to his body-suit, which he had placed next to it.

Speaking of which, where was it? He had dumped most of his gear underneath the empty vehicle frame stored in the corner of the hangar. So where was it?

He noticed a small piece of paper folded against the backpack. Weird, he didn't remember seeing that before. He picked it up and concluded that it had to be message of some sorts. Folding it open, he began to read it. Slowly he felt a sense of unease spreading through his body.

'_Dear Two-Oxford: _

_I have seen fit relocate your equipment to the general locker room. It will be better for your state of mind if you actually saw your fellow students during your stay here._

_With the best regards,_

_Mister M._

_PS: don't kill anybody.'_

That was just…plain weird. Someone had snuck up to him and taken his stuff to move it to a general room to store stuff?

Snuck up on him?

Taken his stuff?

That was just plain wrong. Who was this mister M and who was he to sneak up on _him_? And why the Post scriptum telling him to not kill anybody?

Was this humor?

~0~

"So are you ready for the coming part?" Yang yelled happily. She was so glad to finally see her little sister feeling somewhat better. The poor girl had been struck by the doubts last night and she had anxious ever since.

"Actually, I feel like I am ready for everything!" Ruby responded with a cheerful cry. "No more awkward meetings, no more randomly combusting in people's faces and no more trying to make things right! Today I can let my sweetheart do the talking!"

That sounded a bit troublesome. "Remember Ruby, you're not the only one to go through Initiation. If you want to grow up, you should meet new people and learn to work with them."

The redhead groaned with frustration and she lowered her head in…protest? "You sound just like dad! Okay, first of all: what does meeting new people have to do with fighting or the Initiation for that matter? And secondly: I don't need people! I drink milk!"

Oh Ruby, you have no idea, "And how about when we form teams?" Now she had hit her mark. Her little sister was suddenly getting very nervous.

`Uhm…I don´t know, I´ll…I´ll just be on…your team?"

Now for the hard part. Even though Yang wanted nothing more than to be on the same team with her little sister, the social interaction would be good for her. Ruby was too…introvert? No not that…she was just not social enough. A bit socially awkward. "Maybe you should try getting in someone else's team?"

Uh-oh. That didn't amuse her one bit. "My dear sister Yang; are you implying that you don't want to be on the same team as me?"

Since when did Ruby know the word imply? "What? No! I just think that it would be better for you if got on a team with new people. You know, break out of your shell!"

"What the-? I don't need to break out of my shell!" She was silent for a second and then realized what she said. "I don't even have a shell!" She quickly added and then seemed satisfied with her explanation.

Yang was about to point out that was in fact not true, when the blonde kid known as Jaune walked past them, seeming utterly confused.

"I'm going to go help Jaune now!" Ruby said and pointed at her. "When I come back, you will have changed your opinion on my team matter!"

_Oh Ruby, you are so cute. If only you realized that I only have the best for you in mind._

While the red-hooded girl walked away, Yang realized that she had not yet donned her Ember Celica's. How stupid! How could she have forgotten to do that!

While she searched her locker for her weapons, she noticed someone walking up to his own locker a few places away from hers. She couldn't help but to be interested in the person though; she thought that she recognized him from somewhere.

"Hey!" She said. She closed her locker as soon as she found her gauntlets and turned to face him.

He didn't respond. How rude! Why would someone not respond to her when the only thing she did was greeting them? She hadn't even gotten to the violent part yet!

Although that would come very quick if he kept that attitude up…

The guy grabbed multiple black and grey coloured items from his locker. She watched for half a minute as he donned a weird-looking suit and then her curiosity won over her anger once again. "What's that?" She asked. She knew that the people here were very proud of their equipment and their weapons, so even if he didn't want to talk to her about silly things like greetings and other forms of simple social interaction, he might still comment on his gear.

And she might learn something about potential teammates. Or enemies. But to get someone to comment on their gear, she would have to attract their attention to said gear. But how would she do that in an inconspicuous way?

"What the hell is that supposed to be!" She then laughed and walked up to him. His suit looked very weird; she hadn't ever seen anything like that. It looked awesome and completely ridiculous at the same time.

The guy turned to face her. "Can I help you ma'am?" He asked her. His voice sounded devoid of any kind of emotion whatsoever and his face was all serious. She could have sworn that she recognized him from somewhere but she just couldn't place him!

"Well I'm curious to see how something that silly-looking can be useful!" She said and walked over to him. He met her gaze for a second before his eyes turned away, looking at a point next to her head instead of looking her in her eyes.

Wait a gauntlet-strapping minute! She knew this kid; he was the one who she had almost bumped into last night. What was his name again?

"Are you referring to my equipment?" He replied, still sounding so awfully neutral. At least she got him to reply, so a point for her!

"Yes I was. What are you going to use for the coming Initiation?" She asked him. Irrelevant! That was what he had said to her, that his name was irrelevant!

"Weapons." He said and grabbed a few pieces of black armour. He strapped the components to his shoulders, knees and chest and double-checked if they were attached properly.

"Yang!" Her little sister cried from across the room. "Hurry up!"

"Coming sis!" She said and took one last look at the strange guy with his black suit. "You gonna tell me your name?" She said and took a few twirling steps towards Ruby's general direction. "Or don't you have one?"

He grabbed the last of his equipment out of his locker and turned his back towards her. "Not important." Then he simply walked away, not even taking the time to say goodbye or anything! What a jerk!

And now he was just using other words to say irrelevant! It didn't make any sense!

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff?" Glynda Goodwitch's voice echoed through the room as she announced where they needed to go.

Well, there was at least one good thing about it all; Ruby´s social skills were royal compared to the guy she had just ´met´. At least she tried to not insult people when they asked for their names.

She noticed that Weiss Schnee and a girl with long, red hair just exited the room together. Jaune was sitting on the ground looking awfully depressed and Ruby appeared to be trying to comfort him. What had happened to him? Why was Ruby trying to comfort him and why was she asking herself all these questions?

"Having trouble here?" She walked up to the two and took another look at the exit, where the two ladies had disappeared. Slowly she reached an idea on what might have happened and she sighed.

Guys.

"I don't understand…my father said all that women looked for is confidence! Where did I go wrong…"

Ruby offered him a hand and he took it, pulling himself upright.

Had the kid seriously tried to seduce Weiss Schnee? Was he actively trying to get himself killed?

"There there Jaune…it's alright. Let's go…" Ruby said and escorted him together with his damaged ego out of the room.

Yang lagged behind for a few seconds while she tried to process what was happening around her. Had all the guys suddenly lost their minds or something?

~0~

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch had been waiting for them on Beacon Cliffs. Every first-year student had to come there for the planned Initiation and when everyone had actually arrived, Ozpin had started another speech. He was good in giving speeches that completely ruined your self-esteem and hopes for the future.

Ruby had been among the first wave of students to get to the Cliff and she was very anxious as to the results of today. This would be the day that she got her team…and she was desperately hoping that Yang would be her teammate.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...and it will happen today." Glynda added.

"What!" She muttered as realization dawned upon her. She hadn't expected the issue to be addressed so soon.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well." Ozpin continued. What he said made sense, but his tone didn't sound very promising to her. His expression was solemn, so the coming part would be negative.

She groaned as she processed the part where Ozpin bound them to their partners for the coming four years. If she teamed up with someone she absolutely hated –like Weiss- then she would be stuck with that person for a very long time. All the more reason not to mess up!

"That being said, the first person you make eye-contact with after your arrival will be your partner for the next four years."

…what? What?! WHAT!

Two students turned to look at her and she noticed that Miss Goodwitch was glaring at her with a very angry expression. Ruby swallowed and concluded that she must have yelled that last word at the top of her lungs. Her cheeks stung red and she coughed nonchalantly. Please continue please continue please continue…

"See?" A girl with orange hair said to the male standing next to her. "I TOLD you!"

Did Ozpin seriously tell them that they would have to make eye with their partner in order to team up with them? Absolutely everyone could become her partner that way!

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will certainly die."

That was brutal.

Jaune laughed nervously before he realized that no 'one else was laughing. Then he gulped, seeing that the situation was very much non-humorous.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. "

That meant that if they messed up, they would be screwed.

"You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and you will be graded appropriately. Are there any questions?"

So they would have to gather an item with a partner and return that item…all the while evading and dodging mortal danger while intertwined in personal problems if the partners clashed? Great.

Jaune raised his hand and cleared his throat. "Uhm…sir?" He asked.

Ruby realized that they were all standing on a tile in the middle of a grass field. Why was that? How were they supposed to land in the Emerald Forest?

"Good!" Ozpin said, completely ignoring the blonde. "Now, take your positions."

Positions? Wait a minute…they were standing on weird tiles at the top of a cliff, they needed to head to a forest which lay before and below them. Would these tiles drop them through the ground? Launch them in the air?

…teleport?

"Sir? I have a question?" Jaune tried again. Ruby glanced over to her left and noticed that the tile underneath Weiss had risen up into a springboard. So they would be launched in the air? That meant flying! She couldn´t fly; milk didn't give any wings!

And why, why had she looked at Weiss? She just glanced at her general direction and she immediately noticed her. Why was that! Was she cursed or something? Doomed to hang around the Schnee girl forever?

A sense of dread fell into her stomach like a slab of metal and she suddenly felt nauseous. What if that curse caused her to be teamed up with that girl? Her career would be as good as over!

Weiss was launched into the air, confirming Ruby's suspicions. More tiles activated as the row progressed and she quickly assumed a combat stance. She would have to improvise.

Even though she sucked at drama and theater.

"This landing? Strategy…thing? What is it? Will we be…dropped? Or something?"

"No. You will be using your own landing strategy." Ozpin said. Poor Jaune still didn't catch the message; more and more students were launched in the air and three of them even screamed with fear or –in Yang's case- total glee. Was she just imagining it or was her big sister actually wearing aviator glasses? Where had she gotten those!

"Yeah…uhh…" Jaune muttered. He was just about to ask what this 'landing strategy' would be when his tile activated.

Ruby had never heard a guy scream so high-pitched before and she actually had to giggle a bit. But then her tile activated as well and she had no choice but to join Jaune in his screaming activities. She had overestimated the potential of the tile underneath her feet and now she was paying the price. If only she could land soft…

Or alive.

~0~

Ozpin took another sip of his delicious coffee and watched the students go. Miss Goodwitch had already taken the necessary precautions to ensure the complete taping of the coming events and thus he would be able to completely follow everything that transpired.

"Coffee is good." He sighed as be looked over the beautiful hill.

"I am glad you enjoy it sir…" Glynda replied as she tinkered around with her Scroll.

Gradually the screams of his students faded away and a sense of proud filled him. He had sent more than a dozen people sailing through the air to collect a relic for him, all in days' work.

"Hey! There are people!" Someone yelled and disturbed his peace and harmony. He recognized that voice; and he had hoped not to hear it for a long while. At least today, of all days.

He turned around and faced the newcomer. "Glad you could make it…" He said and took another sip of his coffee. He was having a very enjoyable day and he would not let it be ruined by this person.

"Yeah, well you know. If SOMEONE hadn't rigged the speaker unit in my room to play a pre-recorded message on a loop containing false information and if that SOMEONE then hadn't tried to sabotage complete hallways in an attempt to keep me away, I might not have missed the launching procedure."

Well, that was a small speech. Was he talking crazy again, or was there an actual sense of truth in what he said?

"Someone sabotaged hallways to keep you away?" Ozpin said, already realizing who that might have been. "I am sure that you are just being paranoid."

"Yes, well that was what I thought." The man replied and walked over to him. "So! What do they have to do in the Emerald Forest this year?"

"I thought that you rigged the forest for the students?" Ozpin replied.

"Well…I actually did. I just placed the traps, lured the Grimm and prepared certain paths to the temple."

He did what?

"Are you telling me…" he said and tried to maintain his relaxed posture. "…that you lured…actually LURED the creatures of Grimm to the Emerald forest? Wasn't it good enough to simply confirm their presence, like you had told me you would do?"

"Relax! It's not like I…you know…placed more Grimm! Besides; I am sure that no 'one will get hurt. They are all very capable students and even the blind girl looks like she can survive Grimm without trouble!"

Ozpin sighed when he realized that he wouldn't get anything useful out of this guy. His comment about the blind girl was odd though; he had seen her standing between the students, but he had assumed that she simply chose to wear it for some complicated reason that kids their age had. He had not assumed that she was actually blind; why did he have the feeling that his 'companion' knew more about that particular situation than he did? It wasn't exactly the nicest of feeling.

He chose to ignore that comment, however and focus on the results of Miss Goodwitch's footage.

"So far everyone has successfully landed. The teams have yet to be established and there are no reported casualties so far."

"Good." Ozpin replied and took another sip of coffee. "Keep monitoring and inform me of any developments."

Then he turned to the newcomer and decided that he would make some…agreements with him.

"We should talk, you and me." He said and took another sip of his coffee.

~0~

Ruby sailed through the air and realized that physics were not exactly acting in her favor. If she didn't slow down, she would smash into the ground and die.

Or sail into a tree and die.

Or smash into a lake and drown.

At least she wouldn't run into Weiss Schnee if she died. That was one positive part of her dying- no scratch that. There were no positive aspects to her dying. So she would have to prevent it from happening! Now, how would she slow her own descent down? The recoil from her Crescent Rose was enough to slow her down if used properly. If she managed to fire off a few shots at the right timing, she would slow herself down and then she could use her scythe to suspend herself above the ground.

In theory at least. Once again, physics wasn't exactly her best subject. If she got something wrong then…well…she'd be royally in trouble. Just like she would be when teamed up with Weiss.

She formed her Scythe in its gun form and fired a few shots. The sudden recoil was enough to slow her down enough for stage two of her plan. She unfolded her Scythe once again just in time for her to swing it at the approaching trees. The weapon cut through multiple branches before it latched onto a particularly large one.

'_Yes!'_ she thought as she felt her body swinging upwards. Her plan worked! Her Crescent Rose had latched successfully onto a branch and her many swings around the thick appendage should be sufficient enough to slow her speed down to a more manageable level.

Or so she thought. She had just completed her sixth circle around the branch when she felt her balance shift. The blade of her Scythe cut through the wood like a hot knife through butter and she crashed to the ground together with the heavy appendage.

The impact on the ground knocked the breath out of her and she was temporarily fazed. Little scythes flew over her head as she tried to clear it and suddenly she heard a loud snapping sound. She looked up and noticed that the thick branch –easily two feet in diameter- had nearly crashed down on her. Another tree had caught the piece of wood, but it was slowly breaking the thinner branches as gravity pulled down on it.

Damn you psychics!  
Ruby immediately rolled to her side, just in time for the branch to break through its cover and come crashing down. It narrowly missed her and fell down on its side; causing a lot of ruckus in the process. Why couldn't her landing have been smooth? It should it have been smooth!

She shook her head and started to run in a general direction. She had no idea where she was, but the forest was bound to have been filled to the brim with booby-traps and other deadly problems. She needed to find someone to team up with and fast.

"Yang!" She yelled during her mad dash to safety. "Yang! Where are you?" Yang was good! Weiss was bad.

Her mind formed all kinds of weird scenario's; the results of Jaune being on her team. The results of Blake being on her team. The results of having to explain how she teamed up with nobody or worse, with a thick branch. She was so nervous that she didn't even notice where she was going anymore!

´_Anyone but Weiss…'_ She thought. Not Weiss, anyone but her. Yang would be great, but not Weiss.

Not Weiss Schnee!

She saw a clearing ahead and increased her speed. She just had to team up with anyone –anyone at all, as long as they weren't-

She noticed someone standing there all of a sudden and cursed that person's sudden appearing-potential. She tried to slow down; to break her momentum and prevent herself from crashing into the person standing there. It worked –partially. She skidded to a halt just a meter in front of the person standing there and she thought she glimpsed a bright white colour before she looked down. This couldn't be true! This person just had to be anyone except for Weiss, how hard would it be!

Het right feet got caught in a surfaced branch and she nearly tripped. Instinctively she waved her wands in front of her to prevent herself from falling and she pushed her upper body up –causing her to face the girl known as Weiss Schnee in the process.

The pale girl looked her in her eyes and her eyebrows narrowed. Whoops.

Then she turned around and walked away.

Of all the people…of all the damn people to run into she had to find the one she had wanted to join the least! How hard would it have been to simply not find someone that was Weiss?

"Wait! W-where are you going!" She yelled and decided that she would follow the girl. Even if she was the stupidest girl ever –she still needed to have a teammate in order to not die.

"We're supposed to be teammates!"

~0~

Weiss realized quickly that if she didn't act soon, she would most likely hit the ground and break every single bone in her body. But thankfully she had a very good idea on what to do.

Aiming her sword at a specific spot on the plains where she was about to land, she channeled her power through the sword and –activating the Dust canister in Myrtenaster- placed a glyph on the ground.

She landed on the symbol and it completely dissipated her speed and the power behind her jump. Her usage of the glyphs was once again perfect. She was the best user of Dust in all of Vale; she was certain of that. Nobody could get HER in a position where she would be unable to save herself.

The only thing she needed to do was to find Pyrrha Nikos or somebody else she could trust as a powerful ally. The best option would be Pyrrha, but everybody would suffice. Absolutely everybody, as long as it wasn't –

"Watch out!"

Huh?

A red figure appeared out of nowhere and nearly crashed into her. Wait, who was that? Could it be…was it?

Damnit!

Ruby Rose.

~0~

Ren needed to slow down. This Initiation was already getting messy and if he didn't find a proper way to touch down, there would be no coming year for him.

He was sure that Nora would be fine though, the girl had been through tougher situations before and she had always managed to pull through.

He on the other hand, would need a bit more luck with the situation. And his luck was about to turn; he had just about entered the Emerald Forest and was about to smash into the treeline. What if he could…?

Even though the prospect wasn't exactly enticing, he still had to try. If he could latch onto the bark of a tree and then use his Aura to steer him under the right corner…he could ride the tree all the way down and be fine when landing.

On the other hand; if he did so in a wrong way, he would tear both of his arms out of their sockets and then he would not be able to team up with Miss Valkyrie.

He approached the chosen tree with a relatively high speed and cautiously aimed with his Storm Flowers's knifed edges for the trunk. As soon as they made contact, he used his Aura to propel his body in a different direction. His remaining momentum was dissipated when spiraled down the tree, encountering no more problems than the stripped bark falling on his head.

So. Now to find Nora and team up with her. After that, they would-

His thoughts got cut off when a bright light flared through the air.

Seconds later, Yang entered his vision and immediately disappeared again.

What just happened?

~0~

"Woohoo!" She cried and felt her aviator glasses slowly making their way up her face. Well, technically they weren't hers. She had sought out the flight-officer who wore them and then beaten her at arm-wrestling. Of course she had won and the cool glasses had been her reward.

Now, when she was flying through the air with the greatest of ease, she briefly wondered what other miracles of flight she might have procured. Well, at least she could enjoy this little trinket!

She reached for her eyes and pushed the glasses back down. She needed the cool thing to stay where it was; otherwise she might curse her luck and she would crash.

"Yeah!" She yelled and used her Ember Celica's to propel her even further through the air. The more distance she covered while flying, the less she had to walk and risk showing herself to the potential traps in the forest. She couldn't pummel to death that which she could not see, right?

With every blast of her gauntlets she spun around and laughed with enjoyment. Why hadn't the school come up with launching them through the air sooner?

Oh god tree!

She crashed through multiple trees and branches during her speedy crash towards the ground, but she hardly felt anything as the wooden appendages whipped her. Eventually she saw a larger branch coming up and she aimed for it even while she was gliding through the air.

Her feet hit the hard wood and she instantly pushed herself off, this time aiming lower to eventually get herself to the ground.

"Nailed it!" She cried and jumped off the last branch. Flying time was over and soon she would get to the clobbering part.

~0~

Where was Jaune? Where was he? He didn't have a way to slow himself down, she knew it!

Even as the redhead crashed through multiple layers of leaves, she managed to see the kid trailing through the air. If she didn't act soon, he would fall to his death!

Why hadn't he simply found a way to slow himself down? There had to be something he was proficient at, otherwise he wouldn't have come to beacon academy. Right?

She took a moment to transform her Xyphos into its gun form and took a quick look around, making sure that there weren't any enemies in her area. Then she transformed it to the Javelin-form and aimed for Jaune. He was falling with considerable speed and she had to take the windspeed and direction into account too.

She aimed for the blonde and decided that her aim was correct. Then she launched the spear, firing its secondary ability to propel it even further. Please don't spear him anywhere near his chest cavity! Also not in his head.

And whatever you do…do not hit the spear right between his legs. She couldn't stand the thought of her hurting Jaune and she knew that she was taking a huge risk by throwing the Javelin at such a distance/

A faint "Thank you!" echoed through the trees and she felt relieve wash over her in large amounts. She had not speared one of her fellow students! That was a good thing!

She still felt guilty for taking such a big risk with him. If anything happened to the guy she wouldn't be able to forgive herself…especially not it she was the one who nailed him to a tree. "Sorry!" She yelled, hoping that a speedy approach to his location would somehow make things right.

~0~

The nerve of that girl! That she actually though that she could join her team? Preposterous! It didn't count –it would not count! She wouldn't accept it as it was. She would simply find someone else to join her team and then everything would be alright.

She stumbled into a small clearing and suddenly stopped, feeling a strange sense of foreboding.

Multiple explosions went off in the distance and she could swear that there was a faint smell of smoke hanging in the air. Which one of the teams used explosives or fire to fight? And what would that person be fighting? She had no idea what to expect of the forest, it was kind of creepy.

Hey? Were those voices? Was she actually hearing voices in the forest, or was she simply going insane?

"Damnit…have to…let…stupid!"

She recognized that voice…it spelled trouble. She looked up and noticed the blond boy who had tried to flirt with her in a very embarrassing way.

The two locked eyes and he waved at her shyly. She groaned with frustration and turned back to find Ruby. That girl was the lesser of two evils, as far as she knew. Better to be with her than to be with Jaune.

If only she had managed to team up with Pyrrha Nikos…then things would have gone so differently! Her team would have been the best one out there; with her intelligence and Pyrrha's physical prowess, nobody could have beaten them!

And Weiss walked away just in time to miss the redheaded Miss Nikos enter the clearing, look at Jaune and thereby confirming their partnership.

~0~

"It appears that Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee have formed a duo, as have Pyrrha Nikos and Jaune Arc." Glynda Goodwitch said, confirming her information on her Scroll. "Furthermore, Cardin Winchester and Sky Lark have teamed up."

"I see." Ozpin replied and brought his cup of coffee to his mouth. It was still an enjoyable day, even though his present company wasn't the most…enjoyable of people.

"Furthermore, I think we might have run into a small problem."

That didn't sound really promising. "Have we? Do enlighten me."

Glynda nodded and took a deep breath. "We have determined that the total amount of students can be divided into multiple teams of four men each. The problem lies with the following; there is an unequal number of students. The repercussions of which-"

"Resolve themselves," someone said and interrupted her.

"Think about it! The situation which Headmaster Ozpin has laid down for the students –no offense to you, of course-"

"Continue."

"-can either be seen as an obstacle to be overcome or as a problem to be avoided or resolved. If there was someone that saw forming teams as a problem, wouldn't that person go out of their way to prevent having to form a team?"

"That has never happened before!"

"It hasn't. "

"Neither has it ever happened before that a new collection of students has been collected from a group with actual combat experience, a girl has skipped two years of the source of said combat experience and that Faunus civil right protests are getting interrupted by the White Fang. Things change and people will always find a way."

"Are you implying that there is someone down there right now who doesn't want to be in a team?" Goodwitch replied with a sharp tone.

"Would something like that even be possible mister Ozpin?"

The Headmaster stayed silent. The annoying man was right in one part; he could most definitely imagine someone amongst the students who didn't want to join a team. But his method would prevent that from happening! A nervous glance…a simple look in the eyes and two students would be bound for the coming four years. It was practically impossible.

"It would be possible…but not in this instance."

And with that Ozpin cut the conversation short.

~0~

"Don't you dare letting me fail the mission simply because you can't keep up!" Weiss yelled with anger. Why didn't the girl simply shut up and let her take the lead? She had done nothing to let her down thus far, so why was she being so angry with her? It wasn't like she had insulted her or something like that. At least not that she knew off. But if Weiss was worried that she would fail the Initiation because of her being too slow, she had a whole new surprise waiting on her.

She jumped through the bushes, dodged a few trees and appeared next to the pale girl.

"Wha-" She cried in surprise and looked back at the spot where Ruby had been standing previously. "How did you- what?"  
"Weiss…" Ruby said and stared the Schnee girl in her eyes. Eyes were such magnificent things; they told so much about humans. They could speak of untold horrors and pain, but they were also a lock to joy and pleasure. If one had the right key, they could use the eyes as both a lock and a shining beacon to guide themselves to the happiness lying in someone's else's heart. Weiss' eyes were filled with many things; the most prominent one being worry and a thin line between anger and fear. "Just because you fear that you will fail because of someone else's incompetence…doesn't neccesarily have to mean that everyone actually is incompetent. "

She waited two seconds before continuing. "I promise that you don't have to worry about a thing; my skills are sharp enough to ensure victory for both of us."

There were two ways Ruby could have tried to sooth Weiss' worries. She could have either addressed the emotions directly, letting the girl know what it really was what she felt and possibly causing an even bigger wedge between the two of them.

Or –instead of pulling at the roots of the problems- she could simply address the direct consequences of her actual feelings. That meant taking away her doubts over the situation and letting her in the vain that she was in control over the situation.

So it was really just a choice between taking her control away and reasserting her control; a choice which was made rather quickly Ruby hated having to tell people what their problem really was just to get them to shut up; it was an abuse of a natural gift and also an atrocious form of bullying.

"How can you be so sure of yourself? You are so young, there so many things you don't even know about the world around you!" Weiss said, her voice losing its mocking edge but replaced by a bitter tone now instead. "And if you don't even know the world, how can you know yourself!"

Well, she had a point. How could she know herself if the world was unknown to her? Wait…actually that didn't make any sense. "Because…understanding comes from yourself, and THEN you can move on to the world. If you don't know yourself, you can't get started on the world."

And with that, the redhead turned around and walked away. She would leave princess Schnee alone with her confused little thoughts and give her some time to think about what she had said and what needed to be said. She would come around soon enough, Ruby was sure of that.

~0~

"_It is funny how completely incompetent the Vale Police Department is when compared with the younger generation. I have seen officers running around in circles when someone opened fire on them, not knowing what to do. With that in mind; let's take a look at one of the potential new students of Beacon Academy. His combat experience comes primarily from two years of Police Academy and then another two years at…some other facility which name I have totally not forgotten. He was good enough to be enlisted in Beacon, which is more than can be said for the entirety of the VPD."_

"_Your point is…?"_

"_The point is that it doesn't matter where you come from. If you are disciplined and experienced, you can reach a lot. Perhaps I haven't explained this one enough…"_

~0~

**And slowly the plot is getting unraveled. Multiple characters have been hinted at and two have even made an appearance in the fiction itself!**

**I got really dizzy when creating the multiple changing POV's. It was weird having to write from so many different looks…but on the other hand, I really hope that it made for some rather interesting scenes. If you think that the switching POV's were a bit sloppy, please tell me so I know where I need to turn my attention.**

**That being said; I would really appreciate any form of feedback. I need to form a coherent opinion on how the story is progressing and if things are going as they should be going. **

**Anyways, until next chapter!**

"


	4. Chapter 4

**Back with another chapter people.**

**Dragonslasher20: ****Thanks for the review, but the scene you are referring to was actually from Yang´s POV. It was her, not Ruby XD**

**Flowergirl: ****Well thank you, I am glad to have assisted in your addiction…I think…does this make me a dealer now? :O**

~0~

"_Ah yes, the White Fang. I don't care whether they are fluffy little protesters or monstrous terrorists, what I care for are cause and effect. Cause: The Schnee-demonstration Murders which took place a couple of years back. Twenty-five White Fang demonstrators were murdered in the middle of their protesting action, in which they had yet to become violent. Effect: the organization has leverage and arguments to indicate violence and racism towards Faunus and they act as such."_

"_But who committed this…this atrocious act? Surely the officials would have caught the organization responsible?"_

"_Now you are making a very common mistake. Allow me to elaborate."_

- VNN Interviewing Beacon Academy consultant part 1, five days before Initiation.

~0~

Well…that was a waste of time. Of course Ursa wouldn't know where her little sister was, but she could always hope for a miracle right?

The two Grimm hadn't exactly been happy to comply with her questioning. All she ever did was ask them if they had seen a little girl with a red cape and hood, but they hadn't answered her!

They had been very rude. Instead of simply giving her a straight 'no' they had proceeded to attack her! Yang should have known better. But she did not worry at all; the two monsters were no match for her prowess and evasiveness. They had yet to land a single hit on her.

She laughed out loud and placed her hands on her hips. "Geeeeez! You two couldn't hit the broad side of a-"

A single strand of golden hair slowly fell to the ground. Was that her hair? Her…hair? Those filthy beasts…they had committed the worst crime she could ever think of…they had touched her hair!

"You…" She closed her eyes and tried to contain the raging torrent of emotions that her heart produced, but she was unable to. And she didn't want to be able to. Right now, she wanted to tear and rage and kick ass. She opened her eyes and felt her Aura coming burning to life. "You _monsters!"_

The next scene could have taken right out a horror movie. The perpetrator got his ass completely and utterly handed to him, burning and smoking on a plate. Her aura nearly caused burned all the trees in her vicinity to a cinder when it came alive and she actually had to focus on controlling it. Wouldn't want to start a forest fire, right?

The second Ursa was slowly backing away, obviously frightened by her display of power and rage. She turned to face it and her eyes locked with his. He could see the coming storm and realized that his life was forfeit. It might as well jump off a cliff, it couldn't be deader.

It stopped moving and became frozen in place from the overwhelming waves of fear that it had to be feeling now.

"What!" She screamed at it. "You want some too!?"

The bear shook its head and tried to back away again, but before either of them could move its body suddenly rippled then collapsed, revealing the dark-haired girl that Yang had seen earlier in the large room.

What was her name again? Blake?

"Oh…hey!" She said panting, suddenly feeling the aftermath of her emotional outburst. "I could have taken him, you know…"

Blake smiled and acknowledged the fact that they were partners now.

~0~

"Xia Long and Belladonna have teamed up…Russel Thrush and Dove Bronzewing have teamed up."

"I see."

"And it would appear that Miss Rose and Miss Schnee are in a bit of trouble…"

"Rose? Schnee? I am sure that they have everything under control."

~0~

The situation was spiraling completely out of control and they would have no other choice but to retreat and get somewhere safe.

"Come on Ruby! We need to go!"

Damned girl. Good with words, she had to give her that, but completely useless. Her sudden appearance had been completely uncalled for and its only result had been chaos and confusion! As if she, Weiss Schnee, was in need of assistance by some lousy child without manners!

First she had confused her with her words…telling her philosophical things about the world and understanding it. She understood the world all right; a child like her couldn't possibly know what was right.

Right?

Just when she had actually started to doubt her own believes, Ruby had disappeared, leaving her completely alone.

Well, not completely alone. She was in the fine company of at least seven Beowolves and they were planning to entertain her for the day. But that was fine; Weiss didn't worry about it. She could handle the monsters of Grimm without any help and that was exactly what she was planning to do.

But, much to her annoyance, just when she had properly recalled her training and she had readied her stance, the redhead had reappeared.

First the girl had left her completely alone with Grimm after she had destabilized her mind and now she had actually reappeared! And not even to save the day like she would likely want to believe, but to actually make the situation worse. Ruby managed to appear next to the Beowolf _she_ was aiming at with Myrtenaster. She had been about to unleash a deadly fire-attack on the monster and then she girl had forced her to hold back her attack; which was impossible.

So she had set the forest on fire instead. And Rose actually wanted to continue fighting the creatures but she had no idea of the gravity of the situation! If they didn't get out of that part of the forest soon they would die.

"Move it Ruby!"

The redhead took one last look at the Grimm and then followed her example.

By the time they had managed to clear the section that was on fire, she was panting with exhaustion. Damnit that girl was good at screwing things up!

"What was that?" Ruby yelled in anger. "I could have taken them! It would have been easy!"

Pardon? "For someone who talks so much, you don't really say anything!"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"If you had actually taken the time to communicate with me during the encounter I wouldn't have set the forest on fire!"

"It's not my fault that you needed help; if you had just been better at aiming then we wouldn't be here! Remember, I am just FINE on my own!"

Was the trying to say that she was better than her? The nerve of that stupid…little…brat! Her aiming was perfect and her stance couldn't have been better. To think that Ruby had actually succeeded in easing her doubts for a few moments back there. Her entire calming attitude had disappeared like snow in the sun and now she was getting all excited like a little child.

And she was…just a little child. Not better than her, not more intelligent than her, just a little child.

"Well…" She said, trying to find something that could insult the redhead as intense as she had done with her. "Congratulations on being the strongest _child_ to sneak your way into Beacon. Good job!"

And with that she turned around and walked away. An agitated shriek behind her indicated that she had at least been successful in getting back at the girl. Now she would simply have to find her way to the temple and recover the artefact. With or without Ruby Rose.

~0~

The temple was at least one kilometer ahead. All he needed to do was encounter a student, look that person in the eyes and then proceed to the destination. There he would retrieve an artefact and bring it back to Beacon Cliffs in one piece.

That was the plan, yes. And he was planning to stick by the plan. The only thing was that the only creatures he had encountered thus far were Grimm. Not exactly an enticing idea for a partner.

But the moment he stepped into the first clearing he encountered since his not-too fabulous landing, he noticed that something was wrong. Very wrong.

The trees were blasted to bits and now that he actually came to think about it, he had been hearing explosions a while back. But that didn't neccesarily it had to be _her_…right?

A Beowolf jumped out of the treeline approximately twenty meters in front of him and screamed its challenge to everyone that could hear him; which would be only him.

It was strange that a solidary Beowolf would appear just like that…usually they were part of a large pack led by an Alpha creature. Such a creature would only appear if its entire pack had been wiped out.

So he had the bad luck to encounter an Alpha Beowolf that had just lost its pack. Great.

It did mean a positive thing though; someone had eliminated the Beowolves. Which meant that said person was still in the vicinity and seeing as the Alpha male was standing here in front of him after the destruction of its pack, the person responsible should also be near.

The Beowolf screamed again and then charged at him. Great.

He flipped his long black jacket open and grabbed his weapon. To deal with such a large feral creature, there were multiple ways of subduing it. One of which was beating it into submission, but he wasn't physically strong enough. The second choice was to riddle it with bullets, but he didn't have weapons that fired bullets. That left the option of annihilating it with other means, such as aura and dust.

But he didn't use those either…or at least not the aura. He had more elegant ways of dispatching of his enemies and this Beowolf was about to find out which.

The Grimm was close enough that it could initiate close-combat and it swept the area in front of it with its deadly claws, but he simply jumped to the side and landed on the ground. Then he jumped to his feet and readied his weapon. It was a large black rod with two blue pins at its end and leather strapped to the handhold. There were two glass segments at its sides and both were currently filled with blue dust.

The wolf attacked him again and he jumped backwards, but at the same time he delivered a downwards blow on the attacking limb. Multiple sparks appeared and the monster immediately pulled its limb back, roaring with pain and anger.

Time to go on the offence. He took two steps forward and swung his weapon in an arc before him, slapping the Grimm right in his face and driving it back even further. The two pins at the front of his weapon were glowing white/hot and blue sparks jumped between the tips.

The Beowolf screamed in rage and charged him once again. He jumped out of the way and rolled over the ground then he ducked and slid over the ground to prevent his head from being torn off. He brought his weapon up again and jammed it right in the Grimm´s face. This time both pins correctly made contact with the monster and a shockwave knocked the creature back, smoldering with heat.

He had forgotten to properly charge his melee weapon…how silly of him. Now that it had delivered a few glancing blows, its circuits were up and running and he could finally pack a punch.

The Grimm lying on the ground didn´t get up again; the high-impact blow coupled with the intense electrical energy running through his weapon caused massive trauma on the monsters unprotected stomach. The sudden experience of so much raw energy being inserted in such a weak spot caused a powerful shockwave that could knock an Ursa on its arse.

And the high-voltage current running through the metal tips couldn't be nice either.

He heard more explosions behind him and turned to face the general direction of the violent sounds. He did recognize that particular explosion…that left only two possible persons to be responsible for the fighting. Both of them would mean a troublesome partner…if he was smart, he would move in the opposite direction or better yet, head to the temple alone.

But he couldn't return without a partner…and neither could he leave either of the two persons in his mind to deal with the enemy on their own.

He took one last look at the temple and sighed to himself. This was always the result of their actions and he always had to clean up the mess.

He had only covered a few meters when a figure jumped out of the treeline and smashed into him. He saw a large blade moving near his face and he felt his own weapon move to the person who had run into him.

He waved his stick to the side and saw the bladed weapon aimed at his face disappear too. The person in top of him had medium-length blond hair and was wearing regular clothing, but then with a camo-design

"Cho?" A female voice said.

Great. Of all the people to run into, he had to encounter _her_. "Don't call me that. My name-"

"Yeah yeah, I know that. Your name is Jason blablabla… "

"And that was exactly why he hated working with her. The girl who had knocked him down by accident stood up and knocked the dirt off her clothes. "So, found a partner already?"

"No." He said and got to his feet too. "You?"

"It looks like your investigating skills are as sharp as ever…" She sarcastically said and rolled with her eyes. "Shouldn't you have interrogated that Beowolf before you zapped it?"

"No." He said and disarmed his weapon before putting it away. "Someone had killed its pack off, sending it in a frenzy. Any idea who could have done that?"

"Nope!" She said and pulled her own weapon out of the ground.

"Really?" He said and crossed his arms. "So I didn't hear the detonations of your high-explosive rounds coming from that general direction? And you didn't come out of the same direction as the Beowolf did?"

"Well…"

"You must have encountered the pack and decided that it would be safer to engage them…after that the alpha male moved away. I can understand…you must have felt like you needed to follow it right?"

"Will you stop doing that!" She exclaimed, probably feeling very annoyed. "Fine, I killed its pack off and caused it to rampage. Want me to say sorry?"

And then she groaned in frustration and marched off, reloading her weapon as she went.

"I knew it…" He muttered and turned towards the girl. "Elizabeth…" He called, but before he could continue she turned around and yelled: "Don't call me that! Lisa is enough!"

Fine. "Okay, Lisa, you're going in the wrong direction."

The girl turned around and continued walking, but now in a whole different direction. "I knew that."

Cho sighed and decided that he would have to bear with her. She would be his partner now after all, and his father had always taught him to never ever let your partner down.

Or zap them with a High-impact electric Baton.

~0~

"The last pairs have been formed sir…" Glynda said while taking a look at her scroll. Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie… "

She showed him the fight between the giant serpents and Ren, which ended in the sudden appearance of Nora, 'booping' his nose. "Poor boy…I don't think those two will get along very well…still, he's way better off than Miss Nikos."

Ozpin didn't respond to her, but she could see him contemplating her words. "I don't care what his transcripts say, that Jaune fellow was NOT ready for this level of combat!"

She took another look at the scroll and watched as Pyrrha set her hands on Jaune's shoulders and closed her eyes.

Interesting. "Well, I guess we'll find out soon enough. Given their current pace they should reach the temple in a couple of minutes."

Turning towards the Headmaster, she asked: "Speaking of which, what relics did you use for this year?"

Ozpin was still not responding to her…weird. Normally he always shared his opinions with her…what was keeping him busy? "Professor Ozpin?"

He kept watching his own scroll, not even noticing that she was talking to him.

"Cut him some slack, he sees something interesting and his mind just goes 'wham!' you know?"

And then there was _him_. Winner of the most annoying Hunter of the year award right there. The man –boy in her opinion- might be of 'great value' to Beacon Academy, but he was really just a very annoying know-it-all. "Professor Ozpin is most likely busy with very important issues, the likes of which are above your petty levels of responsibility. "

There! That would shut him up for at least…several minutes. Well, more if she was lucky. The one thing that he was actually good at was talk talk talk and more talk. She wondered how he had ever gotten a Hunter status…and an official function at Beacon. She trusted Ozpin's judgment but here…she had her doubts.

"Well, if Professor Goodwitch would be so nice to listen to this irresponsible little Hunter then she would notice that the amount of pairs is not neccesarily equal to half of the amount of students who started."

"That is ridiculous… nobody died, everyone formed pairs and they are all heading for the temple."

He was so annoying. Always with his cryptic remarks and wise-ass statements. Why couldn't he just say what was on his mind so that she could get it out of the way? He had been an associate of Beacon for six months now, one of which he had actually and actively worked with Professor Ozpin and his other colleague's. She had known the guy for three weeks now and her disdain for him just kept growing.

"Well…nobody died, all of the pairs are heading for the temple and yet you have missed a very important fact."

"What would that be?"

"Why don't you check your scroll on camera view eighty-seven…a minute or two point thirty-seven back and slightly tilted up fifteen degrees."

That…was actually quite accurate. Was this simply another trick of him? Or had he actually seen something useful?

She put the numbers in on her camera-view and waited until the scroll processed her request.

She would see soon enough.

~0~

"We definitely need to go…this way"

And Weiss walked to the right.

"No…we definitely need to go to here!"

And Weiss walked to the left.

"Maybe we just passed the temple already and we need to go back!"

And Weiss walked back the way they came from.

"Or perhaps we simply need to keep moving ahead!"

And Weiss moved further down the road.

It was rather funny to see how the girl was so desperate in her attempts to hide her mistakes. Why couldn't she simply acknowledge that she was wrong and move on? "Weiss, just tell the truth and admit that you are completely lost…" Ruby said with a sigh. The two of them had been moving around this little open spot for five minutes now and the girl had done nothing but change her mind about where they needed to go.

"We! We were wrong!" The Schnee girl snapped at her. Then she realized what she had said and she quickly turned away. But her words had been said and she couldn't hide what her face said –even though she was quick to hide her expression from Ruby.

She admitted at being wrong, but she couldn't handle the thought of having the sole responsibility. She was still so scared of what really lay deed down inside of her…even though Ruby didn't know what that was yet. But she would find out eventually and then she could understand the pale girl all the better. The fact that she was so desperate at hiding her flaws and thinking herself better than everyone around her indicated that she had a deep and dark cascade of doubts and fears inside of her.

She didn't like the girl very much, but…

"I know exactly where we are heading! To the forest temple!"

Ruby sighed, something Weiss did not miss. "Oh stop it! Like you know where we are going!"

She was putting her faults with someone else…again. Taking away the responsibility to ease her doubts. Classic. "At least I am honest in it. I don't know where we are going…you should try admitting faults sometimes."

"What is that supposed to mean kid?"

Kid? Kid? She was being the irresponsible brat here, how dare she continue to put the blame with her! Ruby couldn't help it, the emotional burden of having to share so much time in the presence of a girl so…so mean like Weiss was just too big!

"It means you are a big, stupid JERK and I hate you!"

There! She had said it. Weiss had succeeded in getting her really angry and her feelings had escalated very quickly. Didn't the stupid girl realize what she was causing?

But instead of defending herself against Ruby's attack on her personality, or attack her in return, she simply looked in another direction and walked that way. "Just keep moving."

Just keep moving? Just keep moving?! What was her deal! How could she be so childish in admitting her faults at one moment and then proceed to ignore an entire new tirade just like that?

Fine. If she wanted to rile her up like that, she would get it. It took Ruby a few moments to recollect what she knew of Weiss and what she wanted her to know and then she let loose.

"Waah! Keep moving! Wheeeh! Watch where you are going! Waah! Hurry up!" The cheap imitation of her actions didn't represent her very well, but she wanted Weiss to know how she looked like when she was being so…so…bossy! "Why are you always so bossy?"

"I am not bossy!" Weiss replied, not exactly realizing the irony of her next statement: "Don't say things like that!"

That was a shot in the rose…wasn't it? "Why won't you stop treating me like a child? You know I am competent enough!"

"You keep acting like a child! One moment you talk like a responsible adult and the next you completely lose your mind and jump out of your skin like a little kid!"

Damn. That stung. Not because it was aimed as an obvious insult –that part didn't matter to her- it was the fact that she spoke the truth. And Ruby didn't know why it was the way it was. One moment she could read Weiss clear as the day and she knew just what to say…but the words wouldn't come. And then she couldn't fathom the depths of her emotions at all. And at those points that she didn't understand Weiss, what drove her, the girl could retaliate. She could reach for the angry and bitter parts of her mind and take everything that angered her about her current partner.

And she was smart enough to know what would make sense to Ruby and what not.

"You only think so because you think you are perfect!" Ruby yelled in return, forgetting to keep tabs on her own emotions. "But surprise! You are not!"

There. Chew on that.

"I'm not...perfect!" Weiss said, much to Ruby's surprise. "Not yet, anyway. But I am close…and leagues better than you."

Now it made sense. Either the girl was worried that she would contest her skills in a yet unknown social contest or standing…or she was so uncertain of herself that Ruby's apparent incompetence was the only thing keeping her the least bit sure of herself. Either way, her problems with her were exactly that. Problems with Ruby Rose…personal.

And that made it personal for her too. But then in a whole different way.

~0~

"I have the data…" Goodwitch said.

"Now…tilt the camera like I said.."

The woman complied and activated the scene he was looking for. "Oh my…" She said. "This is...unexpected…"

The footage on the scroll was indeed a highly curious one. At approximately one-hundred meters distance, at least fifteen minutes ahead of the rest, a black figure appeared at the treeline. It wasn't clear who it was because the person was standing well away from the camera, but the actions that took place spoke for themselves.

"Pan in." He said, already feeling a smug smile coming up. He tried to hide it carefully; Glynda would not stand for any smugness until he was able to effectively smug.

The huntress gave him an odd look. Oh yes…he hadn't told her that he had replaced all the camera's around the temple-complex with new ones. "Watching new students is always very pleasant to do in the evening, with a nice cup of hot chocolate and a subtle light. Soooo…I kind of upgraded the camera's around the temple with camera's that are actually able to zoom in and enhance a figure."

"You accessed school property and then proceeded to simply replace it?" Ozpin said. Well…if he put it like that…yes. But if you put it like…say: "More like gave existing tech a slight upgrade that would enable the Initiation event to become more accurate…with the best of intents, of course."

He would have to get rid of the dozen ruined cameras in his room of course, but that was beside the point. "Just watch the footage please."

Ozpin sighed and made himself a new cup of coffee while Goodwitch was busy enhancing the image so that she could see what was going on. The figure on the screen was now considerably more visible and so were his surroundings. The student scanned his environment very subtly and then crouched towards a trio of trees not a few meters behind him. He placed something at the outmost left tree and then something at the outmost right one. Then he moved up to the middle tree and did…something. The whole performance didn't take more than a minute or two, but when the figure was done he immediately took a sharp turn and doubled back on his route; taking a rather big detour.

"What is this about?" Glynda asked. He merely frowned and took a good long look at the clip. "So that's what he did…" he muttered before realizing that the Huntress was listening to him.

"Well…" He said and quickly thought of something to say in order to win some time. "If you could perhaps…skip three minutes ahead?"

Goodwitch did as he asked and the scroll trembled for a few seconds before it reached the desired moment, "There…" The blond woman said. "Now would you please stop wasting time and say what you have to say?"

"I'll show you!" He responded and pressed the play-button on her scroll, not even looking where he was poking. The video activated and for several moments, nothing happened. Then the screen started to tremble and the trees furthest away suddenly fell over.

"What…" Glynda said, but Ozpin simply watched over her shoulder. 'Then the black-clad figure reappeared. He was sprinting at considerable speed towards the treeline and when he approached the trees that he had taken the time to set up with something, he dove headfirst towards the lowest branch. He aimed his head to the side and his shoulder hot the ground first. Then the rest of his body moved between the branches, not even touching them in the slightest.

Three seconds later, two large Ursa appeared behind him and they charged after him. One of them ran past the treeline and he could see something sparkle in the air. Then the other Ursa followed it and the two Grimm were consumed in an explosion, Shrapnel flew everywhere and one of the pieces actually nailed the camera, causing a large crack in the image.

"Well…" Ozpin said and took a sip of his newly poured coffee. "That was…unexpected."

"He rigged the trees and went back to lure the two Grimm…" Glynda said and shook her head ever so slightly. "But why take the time to booby-trap the area and cause possible harm to his fellow students. That is irresponsible and hotheaded thinking."

"Actually, Miss Goodwitch," he said and winced when he realized he was about to correct her again. "Those two big Ursa had been tailing him for quite a while. By the time he placed the trap, they had been following him for some time."

"Your point being?" Ozpin said. The man was not easily impressed.

"My point is that everyone has formed pairs…even though there is one person who has not,"

"So this student managed to recover a relic without ever making eye-contact?"

"Yes sir."

"Hard to believe…" The Headmaster said and enjoyed another sip of coffee. But it was the truth and all three of them knew it. "But he has yet to reach the Cliffs."

"No eye-contact…" Glynda said and took another look at her scroll. "Oh! It looks like Blake and…Yang have reached the temple too."

And then smug-time could begin.

~0~

"Think this is it?"

Blake gave her a blank stare and headed down the hill. She thought this was it.

Ahead lay a large, circular temple. It was damaged and several parts had been broken by time…or by Grimm. Or both. Around the inside of the temple lay several platforms with stone pedestals standing around them, supporting several small black and gold items.

Together with Blake she walked down the hill and approached the platform lying in front of them. While the dark-haired girl was tentative in her movements –carefully checking her surroundings and keeping an eye on the large temple ahead- Yang simply wanted to get this done.

She got closer to the pedestals and realized what they were. Hmm…it kind of made sense actually, come to think of it.

"Chess pieces?" Blake asked her with a confused look on her face.

She looked around and noticed that not all of the pedestals were covered with a piece; some of them were empty. "Some of them are missing. Looks like we're not the first ones here!"

Blake took a good long look at the available chess pieces and sighed eventually. "Well, I guess we should pick one."

That was an excellent idea…but which one should they take?

~0~

"Think this is it?"

Jaune looked around and briefly wondered whether he should have said that or not, but he was really curious! The artefact would have to be very awesome. Nobody had come here before them so they would be the first ones to get it, tight?

"I don't know if this is it…" Pyrrha responded. Well, let her be doubtful. He was sure that the artefact was in this tunnel, just like he was sure that the torch he had made was a complete success.

"Pyrrha…" He said with a sign. "I made this awesome torch, could you just humor me for like, five more feet?"

And after he had moved six feet the head of the torch promptly fell of and landed in a pool of water, taking away their only light source. Well…he DID move more than five feet without causing some sort of incident…but was that because Pyrrha had humored him?

"I think five feet is more than enough for now…" The girl said and gently grabbed his shoulder. "Do you feel that?"

"Soul-crushing regret?"

"No!" She replied, her voice dropping to a whisper. Somehow her tone managed to simultaneously give him the shivers and make him feel very warm inside. Magic. "It's warm."

Was she referring to him?

~0~

"So how about a cute little pony?" The blond girl yelled with an overly cheerful voice. Her behaviour was…strange. Stuck in a forest, having to fight monsters for survival and being teamed up with total strangers should be sufficient to dampen any feelings of happiness or excitement. But here Yang was, acting like this was just another day for her. The amount of different people on Beacon Academy was…staggering.

Like the redheaded girl, who had looked like a simple child but whose wishes and dreams were actually quiet mature. Maybe the diversity of different personalities would be a good thing? A broader perspective was usually a better one.

Blake smiled to herself and then realized that Yang had actually asked her a question. "Sure, why not?" She said. It wouldn't matter which one they took with them and the white knight was just as good as any other chess piece would be.

"Well then!" The girl said and grabbed the artefact. "That was easy!"

Yes…it was. Almost too easy. "This place isn't exactly hard to find…" She responded, earning a smile from her partner.

~0~

The large glowing orb of golden light wasn't exactly the subtlest way of saying 'you are in trouble.' However, poor Jaune wasn't one to actually notice it. He simply walked up to the thing, thinking that it could be the artefact and that their search would soon be over.

"That's the relic!" He pointed and yelled. Didn't people tell him that pointing was rude? Besides; this whole situation was off. A glowing orb in the middle of a dark cave? Not exactly a good sign for a wanted artefact.

Jaune continued from pointing to grabbing and soon he was jumping up and down to grab the glowing object. "Hey! Get here! Bad relic!"

"Maybe you insulted it by pointing at it…" She suggested, but the blonde ignored her.

"Gotcha!" He yelled at last when he wrapped his arms around the thing. But then a chill ran down Pyrrha's spine and she realized what was wrong. The important thing which she had missed to obviously…

There were drawings at the entrance of the cave depicting humans fighting Grimm.

And they had entered the cave without seeing them.

Jaune Arc's catch lowered itself and suddenly, the boy was hanging in front of the suddenly glowing eyes and red lines of a giant death-stalker.

And he screamed.

~0~

"What was that?" Blake said and turned around. Yang had heard it too: the terrified scream of a girl in trouble.

"Some girl is in trouble!" She replied. "Where did that come from Blake?"

The dark-haired girl didn't respond but instead stared at a point in the air.

"Blake you heard that right, what should we do?" She repeated, but her companion didn't respond. What was wrong with her? Why didn't she-

A faint whistling noise caught her attention and she slowly looked up. What was that? Was there something in the air?

"Heeeeeaaaads uuuuuuuuu-!" A feminine voice screamed. Oh! It was Ruby falling from the sky to meet them! Wait a hair-brushing minute…since when could her little sister fly? That was just plain cheating!

Ruby came closer and closer to the ground, until she reached a point where Yang could simply hold her hands up to catch her little sis.

But the flying-people event clearly had other thoughts; just when the redhead was close enough for her to land safely in the arms of her big sister, Jaune Arc suddenly appeared out of nowhere and smashed into her. It caused Ruby to be completely blown out of her course and the two of them disappeared into the trees.

How could that possibly have happened?

~0~

Approximately two minutes before this.

"This is a very bad idea!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about!"

"How can this possibly not look bad to you?"

"Stop worrying!"

"Oh I am SO past worrying now!"

"In a good I-finally-trust-Ruby way?"

"No! In a very, very bad way!"

"On that case, I might as well jump !"

"WHAT? Don't you dare-!"

And then she had disappeared, plummeting to the ground.

"Ruby! Get back here now!"

~0~

Approximately thirty seconds after _that_.

"Pyrrha! It's not an artefact! It's not! It's a trap!"

Jaune was screaming and crying and holding on for dear life. It might well safe his life.

"Jaune!" She yelled. "Whatever you do, do not-"

Jaune let go of the death-stalker and got send across the horizon for his troubles. Great.

The threatening Grimm walked closer to her and its powerful stinger swept over her head. Maybe it would be a rather good idea to slowly back off and advance towards the other direction.

The death-stalker growled at her and its giant pincers slammed at the ground. Its entire demeanor was aimed to intimidate her…and it was working very well.

Maybe it would be a rather good idea to completely retreat and flee in the opposite direction.

She laughed nervously and then ran off.

~0~

"Did your sister just fall out the air?" Blake asked her.

"Yes…" She responded, not sure of what just transpired before her eyes.

"And did Jaune suddenly appear to knock her into the tree?"

"Yes…" That too was a very…very random event.

Violent tearing shook her out of her confusion-induced trance and she looked to the right. A cluster of trees were knocked down by an unknown source and the noises got louder.

Suddenly, a big Ursa appeared and screamed at them. Then a pink flash became visible and the bear fell to the ground. An orange-haired girl with turquoise eyes rolled out from behind it all the while screaming with total glee.

It took the student a few moments to realize that her ride was dead and when she did, her happy behaviour did a total 180 and she turned sad. "Awww…it's broken!" She sulked.

While the girl suddenly placed her attention somewhere else and dashed for the artefacts, a dark-haired guy stumbled from behind the fallen big Ursa and nearly crashed into a tree. He took three ragged breaths and then muttered at his partner to 'Never do that again.'

"Did that girl just ride in on an Ursa?" Blake then asked.

"I…" She started, but then another series of trees got shattered to pieces as a redheaded girl with a long spear appeared. And a giant friggin' scorpion was racing after her.

"This is just…" Yang tried to say, but then Ruby appeared from her own tree and started waving at her.  
Yang!" She yelled.

"Ruby!"

The red-hooded girl came charging over the open field to get to her and Yang was about to spread her arms again to hug her little sister. "Ruby!"

"Yang!"

"Nora!" The strange girl jumped between them with the biggest and most honest smile Yang had seen that day.

This was all getting too much to handle…if someone were to make a smartass remark now, she would most likely-"

"Did that girl just run all the way here with a death stalker on her tail?"

DAMNIT! That's. It.

"I can't take this anymore! Can everyone just chill out for TWO SECONDS before anything crazy happens again?"

In the two seconds that passed Ruby affectively rubbed her over her head, the guy she now recognized as Ren ran up to the girl named Nora and Blake looked up again. Okay…everything had turned to normal and the amount of crazy things had declined. Good.

"Uhh…Yang?" Ruby muttered and pulled at her shoulder. "Take it easy…but…"

"Is that Weiss Schnee hanging from a giant nevermore?"

Damn. It. Blake. Belladonna.

"Ruby!" The white-haired girl frantically screamed. "How could you leave me!"

"You left her?" Yang asked, feeling mildly surprised that her sister would do something like that. Ruby turned to her with a pleading look on her face. "I told her to join me…" I told you to jump too!" She then screamed at Weiss.

"She's gonna fall." Blake said.

"No she won't! She'll be fine!" Ruby replied.

"She's falling." Ren added.

"No she is not!"

Everybody watched with their breaths held when they saw the girl slipping and falling…and then they all sighed and groaned when all of a sudden, Jaune jumped out of the tree to catch her.

"I totally forgot he was still there!" Ruby gasped and Yang merely tried to disguise her laughing fit as a bad cough.

It was nice to see the blonde acting as such a hero; to pluck the falling damsel out of the air just as she was about to hit the ground. If only he hadn't forgotten the laws of physics, he might actually have succeeded in playing the hero.

"Oh…well-" He muttered and then both of them fell to the ground. Thankfully, Weiss' fall was broken by mister Arc's back and she was left unhurt –physically at least.

Pyrrha finally reached them and bent over forwards; struggling to catch her breath and recover from her ordeals.

"Great!" Yang yelled. "The gang's all here! Now we can all die together!"

It was meant to be humorous, but Ruby clearly didn't agree. "Not if I can help it!" She shouted enthusiastically and charged at the giant Grimm.

"Ruby wait!" She yelled, but her little sister didn't listen to her and charged headfirst into trouble. She always did that!

"I got this!" She yelled and swung with her scythe at the armoured scorpion; it didn't work one bit and its counterattack left her completely open to any other attacking monsters.

Like the giant Nevermore in the sky, for example. The bird swept down from high above and then swung its mighty wings at their position, unleashing a barrage of fast-moving projectiles.

Feathers with sharpened tips –not good for your health.

"Ruby!"

She ran after her little sister to warn her, but she was already running away from the Grimm. She hadn't seen the Nevermore's attack; there would be no defending herself!

The deadly projectiles sailed through the air and impacted on the ground. One of them pinned Ruby's cloak to the ground and several others blocked Yang's way. Damnit, she couldn't get to her sister like that! And the Death-Stalker could!

She stopped trying to work her way past the large feathers and instead focused on getting the barricade itself out of the way. Grabbing one of the feathers, she activated her Ember Celica's and smashed through them. Would she be fast enough? The big scorpion was getting closer and closer and it was preparing to deliver a lethal blow to her little sister.

Just as she smashed through the final feather and prepared to unleash a hellish barrage on the Grimm, a white flash shot past her and caused her to stay her hand.

What was that?

~0~

"You are so childish…" She said, trying to find other words that could possibly describe the many conflicted feelings she was having right now.

Part of her was angry with the girl –with Ruby, for acting so impulsively and charging of at her own. Another part of her was worried about what might have happened if she hadn't been on time…the possibilities of not being able to protect the redhead and what might have been the results.

And yet another part of her was angry…with herself. Angry because she had been so mean to the girl, because she had given away an air of I-don't-care-for-you and then proceeded to save her life. She most likely caused some very conflicting thoughts in Ruby.

But then again, she had proven to be perfectly capable of seeing through her façade. Of all the people Weiss had met, Ruby was the only one who addressed what she really felt like. The girl had told her things…said words that caused emotions she hadn't felt for quite some time. Ruby knew just what to say and it scared her. How deeply did the girl understand her and what would she think about it?

So instead of giving away how…vulnerable she currently felt, she tried to continue her act of being in control. See what Ruby had to think about that.

"And impulsive and reckless. You are also very sloppy and you don't look at what's in front of you –and don't even get me started on your stance!"

She had interfered just in time to save her life with Myrtenaster, using the dust-powered weapon to fabricate a giant wall of ice to block the Grimm's stinger. Turning around to look at her partner's face, she noticed that the girl looked very much surprised. And thankful.

"But your…perception…of the world around you is like a diamond in the rough. And I GUESS that I can be…a little hard to handle sometimes. If you try to stop showing off, I can try to be…nicer."

"I am not trying to show off…" Ruby muttered. She wasn't? Then why did she talk and act like she had something to prove- oh.

"I just want to prove that I can be a good partner!" She then said. Well, that explained a few things. The formulation of her sentences reflecting exactly what Weiss was feeling at the wrong moment, her impulsive and quite suicidal attack on a superior enemy and her entire behaviour towards her environment. She wanted her to know that she could be trusted with something as important as Beacon Academy. But that was just the wrong way to go about!

"Well…" She said and took a few steps back. "You might want to reevaluate your conclusions…but you're fine."

Miss Rose sighed and whispered something. Together they removed the large feather that was pinning her to the ground and once it was removed, the Death-Stalker was about to break free of its icy encasement. Their timing was once again perfect.

While she walked away, the blond girl called Yang ran up to her little sister and gave her a bone-crunching hug. That had to be painful…

"Ehhh…guys?" Jaune Arc tried to get their attention by pointing to the ever-present Nevermore. "That thing is still out there!"

These people were so _silly_. Why would they waste time worrying when what they needed to do was clear and visible?

"Look, there is no sense in dilly-dallying. Our objective is right in front of us!"

That got their attention. Everyone was looking at her now and she could see their little brain-radars working at overtime. "She's right!" Ruby said. She didn't have a problem when it came to agreeing with somebody she did not like? That was actually rather mature of her. "Our mission is grab an artefact and bring it back to the Cliffs. There is no use fighting these things!"

"Yes!" Jaune yelled. "That is an idea I can get behind! Run and live!"

Weiss wasn't too sure whether that was the appropriate way to name their strategy, but what the hell. If she could accept Ruby for who she was eventually, sometime during their partnership, then she might as well try to accept Jaune. Right?

Ruby took a look at the artefact grabbed by her big sister and then ran off to grab the same one. Did she just randomly decide who should be their other two team members? What nerve!

Then Weiss let her professional people-judging eyes run over the other viable candidates. Pyrrha and Jaune? If only the athletic star hadn't teamed up with the useless blond kid. Ren and Nora? Like hell she would team up with two of those weirdoes. The other students had yet to arrive, so Ruby had actually taken the best choice present. Her people-skills were rather well-developed…almost too developed for a girl her age.

While Jaune took the gold rook as his and Pyrrha's artefact, Ren turned to look at something Weiss could not see and yelled: "Time we left!"

"Right!" Ruby yelled and charged ahead. "Follow me!"

Finally she took the upper hand.

Weiss ran after the now-formed teams and didn't realize that Blake and Yang lagged behind for a bit.

~0~

"What was that?" Lisa yelled in response to the ground shaking and monstrous screams sounding up ahead.

"I guess Grimm…" He replied. This situation was going from bad to worse. His partner was a sarcastic hothead, he still hadn't found the artefact he required to graduate for the Initiation and his partner was a sarcastic hothead.

"I get that smartass. But what kind? What did it find and what is happening now?"

Like he knew what was going on! Perhaps the girl simply needed to shut up and move, that would work. "Why don't you take a look?"

"If you can keep up!" She smirked and without any warning she took off, nearly leaving him alone. He sighed and quickly decided that he would need to stick with his partner, no matter how annoying she was.

"Wait up!" He called and ran after her. "Lisa wait!"

She was so impulsive…so thoughtless! She would not survive long if she kept on making decisions in one rash weak moment of the mind.

Thankfully she wasn't that war ahead. He found her at the next clearing in the forest, standing roughly fifty meters away from the temple.

It was an…old thing. There were multiple platforms with pedestals scattered all across the area, but he could not see what was standing on those pedestals.

"Hey Cho!" The girl yelled. "Look at this! Are these the artefacts?"

Perhaps they were. He would need to take a closer look though; inspect them for any signs of trickery or traps. It never hurt to be sure.

Another explosion went off, this time sounding way closer than the one before. Whatever was causing all that ruckus was getting closer.

He sighed and quickly joined his partner in her investigation of the pedestals. There were multiple statues standing on top of them, closely resembling chess pieces.

"Oh this is just great!" Lisa yelled angrily. "I don't even know how to chess!"

"What a surprise…" Cho muttered.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

A third explosion sounded and multiple trees got blown to pieces, at a point at least ten meters from their route.

"What is that?" Lisa softly said.

"I don't know."

"Well…go and investigate!"

"I don't want to."

"Cho scared?"

"Cho fine with where he is standing now."

Two figures suddenly appeared from the hole in the treeline. They were running at top speed towards the temple-ground where they were standing. He had seen those two students at the start of the Initiation, but not before or after it. Probably newcomers to Beacon Academy just like they were. Great; more unknown people to babysit.

"Lisa?" One of the two girls approaching them yelled in surprise. Please don't say that she knows her…please just let them be strangers.

"Grace!" His partner yelled in return and waved at her. How nice of you to drop in like that!"

"No dropping on today I'm afraid." The girl responded. She too wore regular clothes, but at least this 'Grace' had the sense to actually strap some protective plating to her chest and arms. It gave her a more professional look when compared to his current partner.

The other girl looked more…exotic. She had long straight hair with blue stripes coloured through it. Her clothes weren't anything special either, but she had one very striking feature which drew his attention.

She was wearing a blindfold. What was up with that?

"What is going on-" Lisa interrupted his thought-process, but her answer presented itself rather quick in the form of at least a dozen Beowolves, crashing through the newly-formed hole in the treeline.

"Those guys have been on our asses for like, four minutes now." The girl known as Grace said nonchalantly. She was very calm when faced with the prospect of having to fight more than twelve Grimm together with three people she didn't know. "By the way, my name is grace. I am an old friend of Lisa's."

"Cho."

"Lisa."

He looked at the girl with the blindfold, but she simply ignored them and turned to face the incoming enemies.

Seriously; how did she do that?

"Open fire!" Lisa yelled and grabbed her weapon. It looked rather crude in his opinion; the operator was forced to both carry AND fire the weapon from the hip instead of aiming it correctly. It had a grip at the top of the weapon and a particularly large blade protruding from the back, designed for both slashing and stabbing.

That blade formed half the size of her gun!

"Wow Lisa!" Grace said. "Since when do you carry that monster around!"

"Since my brother officially gave me permission to use it." She responded.

"You need your brother's permission to use your own weapons?" Cho asked.

"Yes!" All three of the girls replied _at the same time._ What. The. Hell. Had. He. Gotten. Himself. Into.

The charging Beowolves were close enough now for him to start worrying. His ranged attacks were only effective from seven meters distance. Anything further away than that could just stand and wave at him for all the damage he could do.

"Hold your fire." Grace said and pulled some kind of remote out of her pocket. "Fire in the hole."

Her voice was so calm that it didn't betray anything, but it didn't sound overly suppressed. This Grace was honestly calm in this situation –had she some kind of secret weapon?

She pressed the button and the ground underneath the charging Grimm exploded rather violently. Multiple screams and growls were heard as the wolves were torn to pieces by the detonation. When the fireworks and debris had cleared, there were only seven left to continue their attack –albeit very dazed.

"What was that?" The blind girl asked.

"I dropped several centi-explosives halfway between us and our stalking Grimm." Grace replied. "All I had to do was wait until they charged right over it and push the button."

"Centi-explosives?" He asked, searching his mind for a way to place the word 'Centi' when coupled with 'Explosives'.

"Yeah…on a scale between kilo and micro-"

"Let's not do this now…" Her partner said and readied herself in a combat stance. She revealed her hands –and the razor-sharp claws that adorned them. It was a nice design actually; a glove or metal gauntlet decorated with large knife-like protrusions. It wouldn't interfere with close-combat styles too much and when used effectively, they could be very, very useful.

"Hell yeah!" Lisa yelled and clicked the safety off. She then opened fire on the remaining Grimm –firing high-explosive rounds that exploded as soon as they hit their marks.

The explosions weren't particularly powerful though; she killed a total of one Beowolves during her salvo, but the sheer amount of splash damage disoriented and completely dazed the monsters. It was an excellent suppressing weapon when it came to crowd-control, Cho had to give her that.

But then more trees split apart around them and suddenly their position got assaulted by another two dozen Grimm, most of them were more Beowolves but there were also some big Ursas among them.

"What…" Grace said with a big sigh. "I did NOT rig those positions…stupid of me."

After the blond girl had emptied her clip –he counted seven shots- she cursed and pulled a handle at the top of the weapon. A hole appeared and she quickly dug in her pockets, searching for more ammo.

"I got them!" Grace said and pulled a red stick out of her pocket. She activated a button and the rod extended, forming a complicated spoon-like weapon.

Scratch spoon-like: it was a red spoon. It was more than two meters long and the bulbous head had a fist-sized hole in it.

"What is that?" He asked.

"This is Dragon's Foliage!" Grace said with a grin. It is a highly-versatile explosive/incendiary weapon!

A spoon was explosive and incendiary? How?

"Show me." He stated and crossed his arms. The monsters of Grimm were crossing high open ground and if they got any closer, he and the blind girl would be able to engage them.

"As you wish!" Grace said and twisted the spoon around. She performed several complicated moves with it and if Cho's mouth could open that wide, his jaw would have hit the ground.

The girl had just turned her giant spoon in a flamethrower. Not any design he had ever seen before, but still a very badass design. The head of the spoon had folded into the front and presented the main bulk of the weapon. The other parts of her weapon had shifted and moved to both the front and the rear; presenting a stock and a space where she could insert the ammunition and hold it with her other hand. The bulbous section was most likely the place where her weapon from; the hole was aimed directly at the approaching Grimm.

"So…" Grace said and fired her Dragon's Foliage. Quite literally. A large stream of orange-red fire appeared from the bulbous head and sped towards the Grimm approaching her; a big Ursa.

"What do you think?"

Cho simply stared at her with a blank expression. A girl he had never met had turned her giant spoon in a big flamethrower and was hosing the enemy with it. "It takes a real lunatic to use a flamethrower. "

"You hurt my feelings…" The girl grinned as the torched the Grimm with her weapon. "Bad guys coming in!"

The Beowolves had reached her and it was the turn of her new teammates to come into action. The blind girl lunged forward and started slashing the incoming wolves with her claws. Lisa spun around and buried the bladed edge of her weapon in the back of a charging individual, before turning to face the next one and blast it in the face.

Well, now he finally got to actually fight the Grimm that had been stalking them. He pulled out his own weapon –not named after anything at all- and unfolded it. The large black stick wasn't larger than one meter, but it didn't need to be insanely large to do his bidding. He smashed an approaching Beowolf in the stomach with his weapon and send it flying.

Another Ursa approached him from his left, this one bigger than any Ursa he had seen before. And he had seen plenty of big Ursas. He rebalanced his weight to his rear leg and swung his weapon backwards, not taking his eyes of his enemy. He prodded the Beowolf in the face when it attempted to sneak up on him and then aimed his hand at the Ursa. It was within seven meters of him; close enough for him to unleash his ranged attack.

He pushed the palm of his hand outwards and revealed the skeletal structure underneath it. It was practically a small grappling hook, but with an inversed effect. He launched the multiple wires with synapses attached to the ends at the Grimm and watched in satisfaction as they made contact.

His first weapon was a melee-oriented stick that could deliver powerful impacts and electric currents, his second weapon was a ranged Taser-like device which launched multiple electrified wires at the opponent. They would embed themselves in the target's flesh or clothes and then deliver the pain; a combined effort of dust and electricity would run through the target for as long as they made contact.

The Grimm screamed and trashed, forcing Cho to take a few steps closer to it. If it accidentally tore out the wires, he'd be in trouble; the energy-current would only remain stable for as long as the wires were in direct contact with the target.

The Ursa fell to the ground, convulsing with the shocks. It wasn't exactly the most humane way to kill an enemy but what the hell. They were only Grimm and besides: he didn't burn them alive like _someone_ did.

But then, much to his frustration, the Ursa pulled free of the wires and they fell to the ground. Now unburdened by the electricity running through its body, the bear got to its feet and growled at Cho.

"Damn!" He muttered and retracted the wires. For some reason this Grimm unit was very resilient to his shock-attacks; he would have to deliver some more strikes. "Heads up!" He yelled and jumped backwards when the monster came crashing towards him. Its razor-sharp claws missed by him by mere centimeters and now Cho found himself on the defense, dodging and jumping but never retaliating.

And close combat wasn't exactly his strongest point; when facing a stronger or faster opponent he would usually smack the crap out of it with his stick.

But not today.

"Grace!" Lisa yelled as she pulled her bladed gun out of one of her targets. "Get Cho!"

"On it!" She yelled and turned towards the Ursa bearing down on him.

Her flamethrower would cook them both if she turned it on them. Normally he wouldn't worry about potential friendly fire because most of the people he had worked with had the common sense not to aim weapons at allies.

A girl wielding a flamethrower-spoon wouldn't have that sense. He rolled to his side and caught one of the Ursa's paws against his leg. His direction in the air was altered slightly by that hit; instead of going to the left he now flew to the right. No problem.

"Heads down!" Grace yelled and appeared behind him, now wielding her weapon in its melee form. What would she-

She smacked the Ursa right in its face with the bulbous edge of her weapon, hitting it with an audible 'clunk'.

The Grimm staggered backwards from the blow and clutched its head, where a black-red sphere had attached itself.

What was that?

"Might want to get clear of the Grimm…" Grace said, already standing ten metrs behind him. Great.

He turned around and ran for safety, but he had barely gotten more than a few feet when the world behind him exploded. The spherical device on the Ursa's head had been a sticky explosive of some kind and it had just blown the bear to bits.

He sailed through the air a lot more gracious than the last time, but any flying he did was bad. And when he smacked belly-down on the floor he decided that he never, EVER wanted to fly again. His body hurt everywhere and the sheer stupidity of getting knocked down by a grenade-dispensing spoon wielded by a childhood friend of his partner was just too much for him to handle.

So he sighed and closed his eyes for a few seconds. "I hate flying…" He muttered and looked up again, expecting his teammates to be already on the move.

He did not expect Lisa to stand in front of him with a big smile on her face –and an extended hand. "Nice flying idiot…" She said while he grabbed her hand. "Don't cops learn to fly?"

"Not a cop…" He said and took a moment to catch his breath. "And I am a bad flyer."

Well…asides from his new team consisting of a blind girl with claws, a lunatic with an exploding spoon-flamethrower and a girl with whom he had a hate/like relationship, things were actually pretty good. Found the artefacts, formed a team and completed the Initiation.

Now they just had to get back to the Cliffs.

~0~

"_The twenty-five Faunus weren't killed by the Schnee Company, in direct contrast to what people actually keep saying."_

"_How can you be so sure?"_

"_It would take too long to explain, just listen to what I have to say. There weren't multiple killers, there wasn't any team to wipe them out. It was the work of one person: someone who worked alone."_

"_Somebody killed twenty-five White Fang protesters all by himself?"_

"_Yes."_

"_So why did this person do it? If the Faunus had yet to become violent…"_

"_That, I do not know. Not for sure. But look at that! Our time is all up! I need to go now."_

"_Wait, sir! Just one more question!"_

- VNN Interviewing Beacon Academy consultant part 2, five days before Initiation.

~0~

**A very large chapter indeed. But large is good, it presents people with stuff and thingies. Multiple characters got introduced here, I hope that I did it correctly. I need to know if this works though, so be sure to leave your opinion in a review. I need reviews- they are very good.**

**Now then…a thank you to all of my followers and our very first Faver. **

**Until next time! **


	5. Chapter 5

**So… lots of things happened lately. I'll start with the most recent ones concerning this fanfiction.**

**Gerald: ****I see your point. I really do; so far every chapter has had elements of the existing canon weaved throughout it, mainly episodes 1 through 8. **

**This is because of multiple reasons. The character development of the Initiation is a part where I can royally expand on and it's a chance to elaborate on the existing world. Of course it is a large piece of canon and it is –for now I think- the largest thing I want to get out of the way before I throw in the AU elements. While some people can make a story a complete Alternate Universe in the very first chapter, I do not think myself capable enough of doing so without ruining the story. Therefore, I need a solid base in my story to start off with. **

**Still, I appreciate the fact that you think I write well. I love to hear those things!**

**Dragonslasher20****: that was actually heart-warming to read. So in return I shall say that I have a great many things planned for this story. Some a bit canon, like we all know, but many more are completely non-canon and downright AU. **

**Same goes for ****Redlikeroses****.**

**Diamond: ****why thank you; my humour is one of the only things I don't doubt every few paragraphs :D**

**Enough babbling for now –on to the story!**

~0~

"_So…our questions regarding the Schnee-demonstration murders have to wait. For now, our viewers are curious as to some other questions…regarding Beacon Academy. First of all: why did Headmaster Ozpin decided that you should represent the Academy and not himself. Surely the founder of the prestigious school should stand here with us today?"_

"_Our dear Ozpin dislikes cameras. He says it's because he and the media clash…I think it's because he looks fat on television."_

"_Okay…straight to our most urgent question. Do you believe that the Grimm will return to the world of man? Like they did in the old times, not the various wild roaming forms?"_

"_If you know both yourself and your enemy, you need not worry about the outcome of a hundred battles."_

"_Meaning?"_

"_Do I need to spell it out or something? Next question."_

_~0~_

So yeah. A nevermore was a problem. A big nevermore was a big problem. A giant nevermore? That could be counted as a giant problem.

And as the two newly-formed teams charged through yet another section of the large forest, the giant bird was still flying overhead, never letting them out of its sight.

"We're in big trouble!" Ren yelled as a large feather pierced the air one meter to his left.

"Just. Keep. Running." Ruby replied.

"I. Hate. Running." An exhausted Jaune yelled in return. His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he tried to get air into his lungs.

"Remember…your…recent…breathing…exercise!" Pyrrha said to him. During the trip to Beacon Academy, Jaune had started hyperventilating and would have fallen into a full-blown panic-attack had the strange man who had traveled with them not intervened.

'_Breathe through your belly!'_ He had said. That had helped the blonde intensely; perhaps it could help him here? She wasn't exactly the best runner of the students, but with the tactic of breathing through your stomach she could endure this.

"Nose…and…belly?" Jaune replied.

"Yes!"

After that his complaints lessened and she really hoped that his discomfort had turned for the better.

The area in front of them gradually expanded until they reached another open area. A large network of ruins could be seen in the distance; there were multiple abandoned structures and other creations. Perhaps there they could lose the giant Grimm tailing them?

"Take cover in the ruins!" Ruby yelled and then quickly ran up to the nearest pillar. The rest of her team quickly followed her example and the eight students dispersed amongst the ruins.

Yang, Weiss and Blake followed her into a small building with only one room and several windows. The large shadow of the Nevermore raced over the ground, coming closer and closer.

"If he sees us we're goners!" Weiss whispered. She was right; a building as old as their current hideout would most likely crumble and collapse when a large Grimm smacked into it.

"Then be quiet!" Yang replied.

The shadow reached their piece of cover –and moved on. Good, the bird hadn't spotted them and it was moving on. But they still needed to get to the top of Beacon Cliffs –a long journey between many ruins and buildings with a giant Nevermore on their tails.

Ruby softly sighed and wondered whether their situation could get any worse. Almost as soon as she had thought about it, she heard Jaune Arc scream at the top of his lungs and then she heard the unmistakable ruckus of an old building collapsing.

"Death Stalker!" Nora yelled almost simultaneously with her blond teammate.

_Good thinking Ruby…way to jinx it._

"Move out!" She yelled and jumped out of the window in front of her. She didn't check to see if her teammates followed her, but immediately continued their charge towards the large complex. If the Nevermore could hear the screams of the other team, it would most likely circle back to attack them again. And with the giant scorpion chasing them, they couldn't afford to keep hiding.

"Is everyone alright?" Yang yelled.

She turned around and saw her teammates running after her, followed closely by Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren –who in turn were chased after by the Death-Stalker. It had caught up with them somehow and now it was ready to continue what it had tried to start –which probably had something to do with cutting them into small pieces and then smashing them into a thin past.

"Yeah just great!" Weiss replied in turn. "Playing cat and mouse with a giant bird and a big scorpion! Nothing can be better!"

"Shut up and keep moving…" Blake said. Weiss opened her mouth again and was most likely thinking of a mean comeback, but Ruby quickly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her away.

"We need to head towards the main complex!"

"Ruby they aren't going to make it!" Yang yelled and she turned around again to see what was going on. The other team had somehow managed to get the attention of both Grimm and they were boxed in between the monsters.

"Forget what I just said, we need to help them!' The redhead replied and unfolded her Crescent Rose. If their new friends were in trouble then it was their job to assist them.

The Death-stalker crawled towards Nora and Ren and the two of them turned to face it.

"Nora distract it!" The male yelled and his companion was eager to comply. She grabbed the weapon on her back and promptly turned it into a grenade launcher, which she then proceeded to fire at the approaching Grimm. She didn't notice that the Nevermore had effectively turned around to attack them a second time. While she was jumping and rolling around, the monstrous bird swept down to crush her with its body.

Then both Ren and Blake interrupted its dive; using their weapons to attack the beast in a cross-slash and chase it off temporarily.

Weiss ran up to Nora and placed another Glyph on the ground, allowing the girls to jump to safety. Both of them advanced towards the large bridge which divided the ruined remains of another temple and the scattered buildings.

Now it was the turn of Blake and Ren to retreat before the approaching Grimm. The Death-Stalker had focused its attention on them and it was chasing them towards the old bridge as well.

"Go! Go!" Pyrrha yelled and stepped in-between them. Then she unfolded her weapon and fired a few shots at the large scorpion, allowing her friends to advance without having to worry about getting eaten by a Grimm.

Now that all eight of the students had reached the bridge, Ruby noticed that the ground underneath them was rather…not there. The bridge and the multiple platforms that suspended it were hanging above a large abyss.

"I hate heights…" She whimpered and tried to steel her stomach against the lurching sensations. She and Jaune had something in common, it seemed.

But they weren't safe yet; as they tried to cross the bridge in an attempt to escape the approaching Death-Stalker, they failed to notice the Nevermore appearing once again to take them down. It crashed into the bridge right between the two teams and completely obliterated the old structure.

Ren, Pyrrha and Blake were stuck at one side with the Death-Stalker bearing down on them while Ruby, Yang, Weiss were stuck together with Nora and Jaune…and the raging Nevermore.

She grabbed her weapon and unleashed a few shots at the giant bird, but either she missed or the creature evaded her fire because none of her shots actually hit it. She could see Blake taking several hits from the scorpion and groaned in desperation. This situation was spiraling out of control rapidly!

"Man, we need to get over there!" Jaune said when he ran up to join her at their side of the platform. "They need help!"

Nora appeared virtually out of nowhere next to them and yelled: "Let's do this!"

Jaune and Ruby looked down at the misty abyss below them and then looked at each other. The two of them quickly held up their hands and engaged each other in a deadly game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Ruby won using paper against Jaune's rock and quickly stepped away from the edge.

She wiped her forehead in relieve and looked at the small play unfolding itself before her eyes. Nora turned her weapon into a large hammer and approached Jaune with a diabolical look in her eyes. She knew what was going to happen and she felt sorry for Jaune. The kid had no idea of what was coming.

Nora slammed her hammer into the weak segment of the bridge, launching Jaune into the sky. Then she stepped onto her weapon with one foot and fired off one of her grenades, literary firing both herself and Jaune towards the other side of the bridge.

"I hate flyiiiiiiiiing!" The kid screamed with fear as his body tumbled through the air.

"Join the club!" Ruby yelled after him.

While Nora engaged the giant scorpion, she witnessed the girl accidently knock into Blake and send her crashing into the Abyss.

"Blake!" She yelled, but then the dark-haired girl launched her whip into the air and let the bladed edge of her weapon sink into the stone bridge. Using her remaining momentum, she swung through the air and landed on top of the giant bird –which had just come around again to see what was going on.

It opened its maw in surprise and its visage appeared rather amusing. It was as if it was coming back to say "Oh hai guys!"

Of course, if Ruby added the series of dashed and slashes that Blake performed while on tis back the amount of humour significantly dropped. She realized the urgency of their situation once again and made way for her teammate, who had been swung off of the Nevermore and almost conveniently landed next to her.

"Welcome back!" She greeted the bow-wearing girl, who then responded that it was tougher than it looked.

Yang joined up with them and readied her Ember Celica's. "Then let's give it everything we got!"

The redhead watched with rising levels of glee as her entire team gathered to unleash all of their powerful ranged attacks on the abomination.

"None of it is working!" Weiss screamed and Ruby detected a certain amount of stress and panic in her voice. What was supposed to kill an enemy as tough as this? Their munition couldn't pierce its skin and the closest thing they could do was temporarily confuse it.

What would work? How was she supposed to-what was that?

Ruby just happened to glance to her left, eyeing the remaining platforms and the ruined frame of the suspended temple. She noticed something sticking out of a wall…or more accurately, four things. Never in her life had she imagined that she could actually see what she thought she saw. If it was real –if it wasn't some kind of mirage or lie- she might have an idea.

"I need to check something!" She yelled and readied her weapon. Can you get me up to that wall?"

She pointed at the large temple and hoped sincerely that Weiss and Blake could help her.

"What are you planning?" Yang asked her, but before she could answer her big sister the two other girls jumped up and landed next to her.

"What do you need?" Blake asked. It was actually very heart-warming to see how her team completely trusted her, in both her idiotic ideas as her naturally-assumed leadership. She had never intended for the group to be led by her; it had merely happened.

"This is what I need you to do…"

~0~

About five minutes ago

"So technically, the first person to have reached the temple was completely without a partner?"

"Yes."

"Was that intentional?"

"I wouldn't know."

"Liar."

"You flatter me Miss Goodwitch."

Glynda wasn't exactly amused by his behaviour. And he understood that perfectly; he wasn't there to amuse people. That was just a fortunate side-effect of his presence.

But it seemed that everything he did annoyed the blond professor standing next to him and he knew that if it was up to her, he'd be kicked of Beacon the very moment an opportunity arose.

Thankfully Ozpin was the person who he worked with and not Glynda Goodwitch.

"What is he doing there?" The main suddenly said, bringing is cup of coffee down again. He had been watching his scroll for a while now and his eye had fallen on a lone figure climbing the large temple suspended above the abyss.

Glynda glanced over his shoulder and took a look at his footage. "It would appear that he is doing something to the wall of the temple…but what?"

Wait a minute…this could get ugly. He knew that temple very well; he had spent plenty of time down there and there were many things he had done to it in the past. One of those things…well…

"The wall you are speaking off…" He said and tried to sound as nonchalant as he could. "Is it by any chance…positioned to the east side?

Please don't be please don't be…

"Why, yes it is." Ozpin replied. That was just great. Truly terrific. Yes that was sarcastic.

"Then I might know what our black-clad warrior is doing up there…clinging to the wall of the temple on the outside, halfway up the Beacon Cliffs."

"Awfully specific, wouldn't you agree?" The Headmaster said and raised one eyebrow.

"Well, yes I agree. It is very specific…" This was the moment he would have to tell the truth. Again. Glynda would throw him over the edge of the Cliffs, he was certain of that. And he wasn't wearing his aviator bowtie…that could get messy as well. "Especially when you take into account that I have visited that place once…"

"What does you blundering about near the temple has anything to do with-"Glynda started, but she cut her own sentence of while she was speaking. "Don't tell me... please say that you weren't so stupidly brash as to…did you _sabotage_ the temple?"

Ozpin was standing with his back towards both him and Professor Goodwitch and was just about to take another sip of coffee when his colleague spoke her mind. It wasn't clearly visible what he was thinking, but the mere fact that the coffee-filled cup was now hanging in the air -suspended a few inches below his head completely unmoving- was very bad. Damage control, quick!

"No!" He said, doing his best to sound relieved to the ears of his fellow-hunters. "I didn't sabotage the temple at all! That would be silly."

"Good!" Glynda sighed and returned to monitoring her scroll. Ozpin proceeded to take another gulp of his coffee- which had to run out sometime.

"I merely installed an anti-air cannon armed with four hydraulically driven two-barrel flak-cannons firing high-explosive thirty millimeter slugs at three hundred rounds per minute."

"YOU DID WHAT!"

"Why am I not surprised…"

Glynda looked ready to strangle him to death judging by her glare, but Ozpin merely sighed and took his scroll out again. "I presume that you didn't leave it operational when you left there…"

"No. I only placed it because I had grown tired of all the Nevermore's flying around trying to disturb me. Don't worry; I locked the thing down tight. Our new students won't be able to get it operational again."

"Then why is this one trying to get it working again?" Glynda said, having calmed down.

"Idle hopes?" He looked over Ozpin's shoulder and took a look at the footage. "He doesn't seem to be chased by Grimm at that moment…let's just see what happened, shall we?"

Thinner than ice. Thinner. Than. Ice.

~0~

This was seriously the worst thing that had happened during this Initiation. It was completely stupid and it would not work.

It wouldn't…right?

"Are you sure about this, Ruby?" Weiss asked. Even though she didn't have any faith in her idea, it didn't neccesarily have to mean that she wouldn't completely go through with it. And she was seriously worried about the consequences for the young girl if her idea were to fail.

The other team was still fighting the giant scorpion, so they wouldn't be able to assist her when she overshot or if the Nevermore would grab her.

"Don't worry Weiss! I'll be fine!"

Right. Blake had fired the pistol portion of her weapon over to a column on the other side of the bridge. There, Yang had helped her tighten it between the two structures, forming a tight elastic band. Ruby had grabbed her weapon and jumped on the center, preparing to get launched by the make-shift catapult.

"Remember!" The girl said. "I need you three to get its attention while I check the temple. If I am right…there is a means to win this fight hidden there."

If she was right.

"Of course you would come up with that idea!" Weiss bit back, trying to hide her worries about the wellbeing of Ruby. Even though the girl was annoying and very weird, she had secretly grown to care for her. It wasn't something she completely understood herself. Ruby looked over her shoulder and her eyes locked with her own. And then Weiss knew. She knew that Ruby understood –even though she acted so mean and angry towards the younger girl- that she really cared for her wellbeing.

"Don't worry about a thing Miss Schnee! I will be fine!" She jokingly said.

Yep. She totally knew. Her ability to understand people by looking at them was…very scary.

"Can you make the shot?" Rose than said, taking the situation to a more serious level.

She smirked. "Of course I can make the shot!"

Yang nodded to them and Ruby gave them a thumbs-up. Weiss then used her weapon to create a glyph that would propel the girl towards the temple –the rest was up to her.

"Give that bastard everything we have!" The blond girl then yelled and slammed her fists together.

"Again?" Blake replied after she reassembled her weapon.

"Yes again!" Weiss rebutted. Ruby would get the job done and she was counting on them to cover her. They wouldn't let her down!

Yang smiled at her and then started looking around. Why was she looking at the approaching Nevermore like that? What was she going to do?

…

"She is insane!" Weiss yelled thirty seconds later and crossed her arms.

The fact that Yang was currently standing on top of a very thin pillar, unleashing blast after blast of intense fire at the flying monstrosity was so completely crazy that it didn't even make sense to her! How had she gotten up there! How was she getting the munition to keep blasting the Grimm like that!

"That's a bit extreme to say…" Blake said when she landed next to her.

"Yeah?" She responded and pointed at the blonde again. "How about that?"

The Nevermore was charging straight at the lone girl burning through her ammo. It opened its maw in an attempt to eat her alive and in doing so, crashed into the large pillar. But instead of being consumed by the monster, Yang held its jaw open with _one arm_ and proceeded to empty her remaining reserves of munition.

Down its throat.

"I! Hope! You're! HUNGRY!" She screamed at it all the while firing her shots.

Weiss crossed her arms and glared angrily at the girl standing next to her. "Hmmm?"

Blake laughed nervously and then quickly refocused on the Nevermore, which had crashed into the large Cliff's looming over them. Wait a minute…yes! An opening presented itself to her now and she'd be damned if she didn't take it!

She readied Myrtenaster and activated another glyph, which then send her flying towards the giant Nevermore. Swinging her weapon while activating the Dust canister inside of it, she created a large piece of ice which froze the tail of the bird to the rocks. Now it couldn't get away!

She landed on another piece of debris and watched Ruby on the side of another large temple, clinging to the stone wall with her scythe. What was that crazy girl doing?

"Hit the switch!" Yang screamed at her sister as she landed on top of the large structure.

So she was standing on top of the temple…Ruby was hanging at the side of the temple and Blake and herself were standing at the lower part of a hanging segment. If the Nevermore were to charge at anyone of their team, they would plummet to their deaths.

It was even more embarrassing when she considered that the other team had already dispatched of the giant Death-Stalker.

What was Ruby even doing? Did she really have an idea or was she just desperately trying to come up with some form of attack, disguising the fact that she had completely no idea on how to deal with the situation?

"Thanks Yang!" The redhead yelled and pulled a hidden switch. A large installation suddenly unfolded from the wall of the temple. It looked like a chair…surrounded by giant guns. There was no way in HELL that could be planned!

Ruby quickly jumped into the leather seat and grabbed the controls in front of her. The device was shaped like a general dome, complete with crosshairs in the central piece of glass. There were a total of four large guns; two on either side of the dome. That was a complete monster! Each gun had two barrels, which meant that there were a total of EIGHT barrels being controlled by Ruby at the moment. There was no way that Weiss was the only one who was worried about the consequences.

"It worked!" She then yelled. "It totally worked!"

"I told you it would!" Yang smirked and walked up to her.

"Did you?" Blake interrupted them.

"Well…"

The Nevermore immediately refocused its attention on the redheaded girl, but by then it was far too late. The attacks aimed at the Grimm by Ruby's teammates had succeeded in disorienting and trapping it long enough for her to zero in on the target and pull the trigger.

"Take this!" She screamed and activated the installation. The eight barrels roared to life and eight streams of bullets cut through the air and sailed towards the Nevermore. The thundering noise was so overwhelming that both Weiss and Blake placed their hands at their ears and sought cover between the rock columns.

Weiss half expected the bird to be resistant to the bullets and continue on its way to crush both her and the temple underneath its mass, but that didn't happen.

"Woohoo!" Yang cried as she watched the giant Grimm getting torn apart by the many hundreds of rounds fired off by Ruby. It simply exploded underneath the hail of projectiles and Weiss realized that the bullets must have been explosive.

Damn Ruby. Talk about overkill.

The turret clicked empty and the barrels stopped their deadly ballad of fire. Now that the remaining parts of the black bird weren't getting squashed against the rock wall by the intense barrage of death anymore, they became the prey of gravity and fell down into the misty abyss below.

"You did it Ruby!" Weiss yelled before realizing what she said. Damnit! She had been the first person to call out the redhead's victory and that would focus a lot of unnecessary attention on her.

"WHAT?" The young girl screamed, placing her hand at her ear. "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Wait a minute…that gun had been so intensely loud that her words had been lost to Ruby. Thank goodness!

"Well…" Yang muttered. "That was a thing."

~0~

All four of them joined Ruby at the top of the temple and watched as Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren dispatched of the giant scorpion. Even though they hadn't known each other until the Initiation, they had all fought side by side in the conflict against the Grimm in the Emerald forest and that would mean more than anything else could…right?

The friendship and teamwork that they had forged in the heat of the battle would last for a very long time…possibly forever. And seeing as they had all recovered an artefact to bring back to Ozpin, they would all stay at Beacon Academy.

~0~

Once they had assembled at the top of Beacon Cliff, Yang noticed that they weren't the first ones there. Another team was sitting near the edge of the cliffs; four boys who didn't really look like the nicest of people. Well, looks could be deceiving right?

"We did it!" Ruby yelled and jumped around on the grass. She was really happy with how she had dealt with the Nevermore and she had every right to be. Her plan had worked and it was only because of her teamwork that they had managed to fight through the Initiation.

Weiss let herself fall down a few meters behind the redhead, looking utterly spent and Blake had sought out the protective shade of a lone tree standing on the hill. It would be a long way back to the castle, but for now they could relax in the sunlight. Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch were still standing near the edge, holding their scrolls and paying rapt attention to the progress of the other students.

At least Miss Goodwitch was. Ozpin was merely drinking his coffee. Had he been doing that the whole time or had he actually done something worthwhile?

And who was the third person standing there? Yang hadn't seen him before…had she? He looked vaguely familiar to her…was he a teacher at the Academy? He was very good-looking for a professor!

"That is the guy who nearly got killed using the dropship!" Ruby whispered to her. He was? This was the man who had torn off the leather strap designed to keep people standing upright in a dropship? What was he doing here, standing next to Ozpin and Goodwitch?

"Any idea why Glynda Goodwitch hates him so?"

Seriously? Where did her little sister pull _that _idea out of? "How do you mean 'she hates him'?"

"Well…" Ruby started. "Judging by the way her eyes contract everytime she looks at him…everytime he says something and even when he moves towards her general direction, she isn't very fond of him. Combine that with the tension in her body and the constant clenching of that peculiar little muscle in her jaw and you get hate. Or intense dislike."

Wow. She was good. "He doesn't look too bad to me!"

Ruby simply stared at her with an annoyed expression and then Yang realized that she must have said something weird. "I meant that he doesn't seem like a jerk; so why does Miss Goodwitch dislike him then?"

"Ooooh!" Ruby said as she realized what Yang meant. "Well, I like his bowtie so…"

What? A bowtie?

She took a closer look at the rambling man and noticed that he was indeed wearing a bowtie. How silly. What did a handsome man like him do with something as…dorky as a bowite?

"Hey Ruby…" Weiss softly muttered. "Can I ask you something?"

Whoah that sounded personal. Maybe she would go ahead and join Blake, who was sitting against the tree reading her book…looking very dull.

Perhaps not.

The blonde took another look at the people standing in her vicinity, hoping that Beacon Cliff's had something or someone interesting to show her.

The four boys sitting in the grass a few meters away from her –who were giving her weird looks by the way- didn't seem like the interesting kind of people to talk to.

And their perverted stares were even less attractive.

Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren had also caught up with them, but they were currently talking with the Headmaster and the professors. So they were out of the picture.

"Hey blondie! Wanna join us?" One of the guys yelled at her and his friends started to laugh and grin at her. He was wearing his hair in some sort of ridiculous Mohawk and his outfit didn't really work wonders in making him appear like a nice sort of guy.

And if anyone would call her blondie again she would rid the world of some potential fathers.

Then her eye fell upon another figure standing on the Cliffs and somehow, her interest was piqued once again. This time she knew she recognized the guy: he was the one who she had accidently bumped into the evening before the Initiation. And the morning after that he had picked up his stuff out of a locker next to her. He was standing with a large, black rifle in his hands like he expected trouble at any moment.

But why was he standing all alone? Where was his team? Had he failed the Initiation and had his teammates left already? That was sad…maybe he could use a little distraction; something to get his mind off that depressing thought.

And Yang was all about meeting new people and she didn't even know his name. She might as well get started with that. It would save the quartet of morons sitting in the grass a lot of pain if she had someone else to focus on.

She straightened her hair and walked past the four jerks, ignoring another remark.

"Hey!" She said as soon as she was close enough for the suited male to hear her. "Where did your team go?"

He looked at her with that same blank, emotionless expression he had on his face the two times they met before. And he didn't respond.

What? Had they all died or something like that? Well…if they had, Ruby would have picked up on the tense atmosphere and she would have told her so. Deaths were out of the question so…the only option left had to be her previous theory. They had failed to get the artefact.

"So…how did the Initiation go?" She asked him, desperately trying to ignore the rising sense of awkwardness. She didn't usually feel weird around people, but this guy was just plain strange. "Did you find a suitable partner?"

"Irrelev-"Oh no he wouldn't. Not this time.

"Stop it right there you bonehead! I don't know what your deal is, but you can answer me properly! I asked you a simple question and you can give me a simple answer like any other person around here!"

She hadn't meant to shout like that, but he simply pissed her of that much. His behaviour was completely unacceptable, at least in her eyes. Why couldn't he simply act like a normal person? She hadn't asked for his deepest darkest secrets or something!

She was pretty sure that everyone could hear her, but she chose to ignore that. Everyone could have heard the insultingly weak attempt of mister Mohawk to flirt with her as well and they didn't comment on that either.

During her angry rant, his expression never changed and his eyes remained focused on a point several inches next to her eyes. But after she had said that last sentence, his eyes finally met hers and he even raised his head ever so slightly. He remained silent for a second or two before finally responding.

Or something like that.

"I work alone."

Damn that sounded ominous. Did he even get one of the artefacts or had he simply failed? And where was his team? He was a student like the rest of them, right?

"You what, work without a team or something?"

"Yes."

That made no sense whatsoever. She had come to him because she wanted someone not perverted or stupid to talk to, but while he was neither of those things, Yang's current company was even worse.

But she'd be damned if she would give up now! She had gotten him to shut up with his stupid 'Irrelevant' and he had actually answered her, which was something.

Another team had managed to traverse Beacon Cliffs and they too were walking up to Ozpin. One of the girls in that team gave the unknown man a high-five and then demonstrated their white bishop piece. There was another girl, however, who caught Yang's attention. She had long, white hair like Weiss had, but her hair had blue highlights weaved throughout it.

And she was wearing a blindfold. How sad! She had gotten wounded during a fight and her eyesight was impaired! That was just the worst; just when you thought that everything was over, a sudden ambush could take a great many things away from you.

Yang ignored the fact that the blindfolded girl was still perfectly capable of walking around and thought about the recent events. The struggles for life and death in the forest; Ruby's brilliance as a leader and the sheer luck with which they had encountered a hidden gun-turret.

She sighed and concluded that everyone had their own odd and weak sides. All of the students who were going to attend Beacon together would have to come to some sort of mutual agreement; it wouldn't do anyone good if there were fights and other nasty pieces of interaction like that. Perhaps this boy was just very nervous around people?

"But you did recover an artefact?"

He didn't answer her but he did slowly nod. Alright, taking things slowly. That was fine with her.

"Yang!" Ruby suddenly yelled and shook her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" She yelled in return.

"We're going back to Beacon, come join us!"

"In a second!" Then she turned to her conversational partner. She didn't want to leave this suddenly, but she also didn't want to stay behind. "I need to go now, so…wanna come with me? You owe me a few answers buddy!"

Perhaps he could walk with them on the trip back to Beacon –and Ruby could work her magic. Her little sister might not be the most social person, but she was so damn good when it came to reading people and deciding what made them tick.

The student glanced in the general direction of Ozpin and then h looked back at her. His expression still hadn't changed but…there was something different now. Yang couldn't exactly see what it was, but…

"Hurry up!" Weiss yelled too.

"Next time." The boy said. Well, that was good enough for her. Next time she saw him, she'd get a name out of him. The nice way…or the violent way.

~0~

"Russel Trush. Cardin Winchester. Doze Bronzewing. Sky Lark."

A large screen at the auditorium showed the faces of the persons called forward by Headmaster Ozpin as they lined up for the honorifics.

"The four of you recovered the black bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will operate as team CRDL, led by Cardin Winchester!"

The present audience cheered and waved as the newly formed team CRDL bowed and then left the stage.

"Jason Cho, Allesa, Grace Benti and Lisa Mendez. The four of you recovered the white bishop pieces. From this day forward, you will operate as team LACG, led by Lisa Mendez."

The four people on the stage bowed and waved at the people sitting in the audience, cheering and shouting at them with glee. Then the four of them left and the next four students stepped forwards.

"Jaune Arc. Lie Ren. Pyrrha Nikos. Nora Valkyrie. The four of you recovered the white rook pieces. From this day forward, you will operate as team JNPR."

The crowd applauded again and Nora pulled her friend Ren in a tight embrace.

"Led by Jaune Arc."

The blonde kid nearly choked when he heard that announcement. "L-led by…?"

"Congratulations young man." Ozpin said with a vague smile. Pyrrha reached over to give her new leader a friendly pat on the back, but she overestimated her strength and she send the boy sprawling to the ground. Jaune landed butt-first on the stage and gave the audience a laughing fit to remember. Miss Nikos placed her hands in front of her mouth, probably feeling quiet shocked.

After team JNPR has left the stage, there was one more team that needed attention.

"And finally: Blake Belladonna. Weiss Schnee. Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose. The four of you recovered the white knight pieces. From this day forward, you will operate as team RWBY. Led by: Ruby Rose!

Miss Schnee looked to her right, obviously surprised by his choice. Yang merely yelled: "I am so proud of you!" And hugged her little sister.

The teams had successfully recovered and then delivered their artefacts, not a single one of the students had failed the Initiation. But there were going to be problems with the new teams; Ozpin could see that. Not everyone would be happy with his decisions as to who would lead their teams. Team RWBY was one example –he could see how Weiss Schnee was shocked and surprised with his choice. She had never expected Ruby to be their new team leader.

"It looks like things are shaping up to be a…interesting year. "

He turned to leave the stage and left the auditorium through one of the exits. He desired coffee. The day's events had truly been interesting, but the entire journey from Beacon Cliffs to the announcement of the teams had left him…rather lacking.

So when he arrived at his office, he longed to simply open the door and pour himself a new steaming cup of coffee. But as soon as he heard footsteps behind him, he realized that his dear hot coffee would have to wait for another few minutes.

"Headmaster Ozpin. I think it is time we spoke again."

So soon after the events of Beacon Cliffs?

"What for?"

"I think it would be better if we discussed this in your office. This is a…sensitive matter."

The way the guy spoke was very different from how he usually did. He was being serious now –actually serious. This could get interesting.

"I understand."

The two of them entered his office and while Ozpin started making himself another cup of coffee, his conversational partner opened up.

"I have done some…digging…" The consultant started. "There are a few cases worthy of noting in Vale right now…one of them is Roman Torchwick."

"I am aware of him." Ozpin replied, still busy with his beverage.

"Most likely, yes. But I found out that our person of interest is most likely not working alone. According to my sources he…"

The man started searching through his pockets until he gave a startled "Ah!" and took out a piece of paper.

"Yes, according to my sources, Torchwick is most likely not working alone. Take a look at this picture!"

He took the piece of paper from the man's hands and sighed when he realized what was on it. He sighed and handed the thing back.

"This is a doodle of a Beowolf."

"Is it?" He replied with obvious confusion and grabbed the paper out of his hands. "It is! How silly of me! Here is my Intel." Then Ozpin got an envelope of paper pressed into his hands.

"The pictures in there identify at least two persons affiliated with Torchwick. According to my sources and the information in these pictures, they seem to be higher-ups. They are his superiors. We don't know who they are or what they want, but seeing as this is Torchwick we are speaking about."

"Yes, considering history it might be wise to take action." The Headmaster concluded.

"So…" Ozpin then said and let his eye glance over the contents of the envelope. The photos in there were…mildly disturbing. "What do you suggest we do about it?"

"The way I see it, there are two possible ways we can handle this. We either send a team of Huntsmen and Huntresses in and risk ruining the one advantage we currently have, or we try to find out more information."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…if someone were to be send on a covert operation behind enemy lines to pose as another criminal in order to win Roman's trust and get him to reveal his current employee…that would be lovely."

"What you are suggesting is very dangerous."

"And must be kept as a secret –whatever the cost. You can't even tell Glynda about this."

That was disturbing. If he wanted to send someone on what could only be described as a Covert Operation, the list of candidates capable of doing this an actually getting some information would be very, very short.

"You do realize that if we send someone from Beacon…their absence will be noticed?"

"Not if we explain it before the person will disappear."

"What if he is found out or worse; gets compromised when another team encounters him?"

"Then we can and will deny everything."

The implications of the necessary actions weren't the nicest Ozpin had encountered in a while. This wouldn't be something he could take lightly –nor would he take it lightly. "Thank you for your time…I will consider your…idea. Until then, you can go."

The man stood and collected his material. "Thank you, Ozpin." And with that he left the office, leaving the Headmaster alone with a great many things to ponder.

~0~

He closed the door behind him and sighed. That was one of the more…darker roads he had taken on Beacon. Normally he wouldn't have resorted to such…drastic measures, but catching Roman Torchwick was more important than anything else at the moment.

"I hate small offices…" He muttered and walked down the hallway. He was just about to turn around the corner and figure out where he was supposed to go next, when he nearly bumped into someone.

Both he and the student who had appeared stopped in the middle of their movement and stared at each other. Wait a bowtie-fixing minute…he recognized that girl!

"Ruby, wasn't it?" He said and moved to the side to let her pass.

"Ehm…yes?" She replied, but kept standing where she stood, obviously wanting a conversation of some sorts. He noticed how her eyes were moving all over his face; looking him in his eyes, glancing at his features and even taking notice of how his shoulders were standing. Was she eyeing him up?

"Aren't you the girl who-"

"Exploded in the courtyard, yes I know-"

He raised his eyebrows at that. That was totally not what he was going to say. "-who used my gun?"

She blinked twice at his remark and then blushed when she realized what she had said. "I mean- I- damnit!"

She stopped screening his face. She wasn't eyeing him up, no, she was way too young to do that –he might suspect her big sister to do something like that, but not Ruby. So why was she doing that?

"Y-your gun? What are you talking about?" She then said.

He smiled at her. Her childish innocence at having murdered a giant Grimm using what had to be the largest gun she had ever touched was cute. "Oh you know, back in the forest at the temple? You used my anti-air installation to kill that Nevermore?"

"That was yours!" She said and suddenly her entire attitude changed. Her eyes became big and she brought her hands together like she was begging for something. She immediately took a step closer and looked up at him with a pair of very nasty puppy-eyes. "You made it! That is awesome! How did you do it? What munitions did it actually fire? How did you get that there? Please tell me!"

Her enthusiasm concerning big ordnance was very good; not enough kids her age appreciated guns enough. And she didn't call him sir…or mister…or weird man…which was good, considering how he was only twenty-three years old. Everytime somebody called him sir, he felt a few hairs turn gray.

"Well Ruby…" He said. "If you can tell me how you activated it, I will tell you what munition if fires. Deal?"

He knew that he had locked down the turret before his departure and the lone figure at the temple-wall had been tinkering with it for some time. So if it was activated before little red Rose came along, someone amongst the students had managed to override his gun-locking skills. And that was very troubling. And promising.

"Well…" She said and nervously scraped the ground with her left foot. "It was active when I got there…I only had to unfold it using a lever."

So the partner-less and team-less student had managed to get his gun to work. And in doing so, he had provided Ruby with a means to destroy the giant Nevermore. She would have been able to kill it without that big turret, he had no doubts about that. It just made her job a hell of a lot easier.

"Okay, thank you. Now, the munition reserves concerning the anti-air turret…"

And then he lost himself in doing the one thing he loved the most. Talking.

~0~

"Do you have any idea where Ruby went?" Yang asked her teammates. Blake and Weiss had already shown up in the empty room, but her little sister was still nowhere to be found.

"No idea…" Blake said. The girl was sitting with her back to the wall and she had a book in her hands –probably the same one she was reading at Beacon Cliffs.

"She said something about taking a stroll…" Weiss replied without taking her eyes of her work. She was lying on the ground with her legs crossed in the air, drawing something on a white sheet of paper. Why were both of them busy with something when their team leader was gone?

"A stroll…did she mention where she went? And did someone mention where OUR STUFF IS!" She yelled, gesturing at the general emptiness of the place. They had an average room; about seven meters by seven meters. The only problem: the only thing inside of the damn thing was a window. And that was it.

"Don't worry, it'll come." Weiss said. "I've got everything under control."

"How…how do you have everything under control?" Blake replied.

"You'll see!" The pale girl responded in an agitated voice.

"So…any form of contact with the other teams?" Yang then asked, hoping that her little sister would show up soon. In the meantime she would try to make herself comfortable…in the absence of virtually everything she had.

"You can say that…" Weiss absentmindedly said.

"No." Blake added.

The three of them waited for about thirty seconds before Yang felt another wave of impatience wash over her. "Where is everybody! Weren't we supposed to pick our stuff up or something?"

"That's what I said…" Blake answered.

"We don't need pick up our own stuff guys!" Weiss yelled. "I took care of it!"

"You? How did you take care of it!"

"You'll see eventually…"

And then the three of them waited for another thirty seconds. Then the door swung and revealed Ruby standing in the doorway.

"Hello girls!" She yelled happily and stepped into the room. "How did the decorating go-"

She stopped herself when she noticed the sheer emptiness of the room. Then she turned to Yang and sighed. "Our stuff didn't get picked up right?"

"Right."

"Everything is still down in the main hall?"

"Probably, yeah."

"And you didn't get anyone to help?"

"Uh…what?"

"Oh you know…we have enough luggage to last for a very long time…times four. It would take a very long time to haul all of that all the way up here, right? At least, if we did so on our own."

"Yeah…" Yang replied, slowly beginning to feel uncomfortable. She actually had communicated with someone to assist them in hauling the luggage, but she had kept it a secret from everyone else…even though she should have realized that there was no point in trying to keep things a secret from her little sister.

Ruby always found out whether someone was lying to her, or hiding things from her. But she had simply wanted to make the decorating and furnishing of their shared bedroom easier on her little sister. Carrying all of their luggage would have taken them hours…and it would be such exhausting and embarrassing work!

"So…if somehow…one of us managed to get help for the job…" Ruby then started.

"Alright!" Weiss quickly said and held her hands in the hair, pleading guilty. "I asked a few people to help us. A while back. They should be here very soon now.

"You did what?" Blake asked incredulous. "You asked someone to help us?"

"Yeah…well…" The blonde replied, suddenly feeling a bit embarrassed by all of this. "I am sure that it wasn't because Weiss couldn't do it on her own…she is sure to have some very good reasons, right?"

"Yes I do!" The girl answered. "I just don't want to waste time or effort doing something a middleclass citizen can do just as well!"

"That is a…reason…" Ruby said with an uncomfortable smile. "But not as good as say for example…wanting to invite other people to help so that you can get to know them better, right?"

Yang gulped. That reasoning sounded awfully familiar to her.

"Yang?" Her little sister then added. "You want to tell us something?"

She groaned in frustration and crossed her arms. "Fine, I asked someone to help us too. But only because I wanted our team to get to know other teams better!"

"You both asked people to help us move our own luggage…" Blake said. "I can't believe it."

"How did you know I set someone up to help us?" The blonde said. She knew that Ruby had a thousand different ways of reading someone, but her face had betrayed nothing! Nothing! So how did her little sister known? How-

"Yeah…" Ruby sighed and sat down next to Weiss. "I also asked someone to help us."

She what?

"So…" Blake said and counted with her fingers. "Yang asked someone to help…Weiss asked someone to help…and Ruby asked someone to help?"

"Yep." The redhead replied.

"So how many people are coming to help us?"

"I asked one…" She said.

"So did I!" her sister added.

"I managed to get two to help us!" Weiss took the situation a step further.

"That means you won!" Yang sarcastically replied. "But if nobody arrives here in the first place, we're still on our own!"

No sooner had she completed her sentence or someone knocked on the door.

"Hey, must be your middleclass citizen…" Blake said without taking her eyes off her book.

"Oh shush you!" Weiss bit back and stepped towards the door. She opened it again and revealed the same man Yang had seen at Beacon Cliffs –the good-looking professor.

"Hello!" He said with a big smile as he stepped inside the room. "I am the middleclass citizen!"

~0~

Damn. That hit home. She felt a loud giggle coming up when she watched Weiss grow red with shame, realization dawning on her that she had insulted a professor on her new Academy.

"I...that…but…I never meant…you?" She said incredulously. Then she managed to recompose herself and she bowed towards the man. "I am sorry, I did not know that someone had asked you to help, sir."

"Oh don't call me sir! I'm not calling you sir, now am I?" he said with annoyance and inspected the room, leaving Weiss to stare at him with wonder. "Didn't you decorate this place yet?"

Before anyone could reply, he continued talking. "Well of course you lot didn't, you still have all your luggage standing downstairs. I guess that is why your wise team-leader asked me to join you."

"You asked him to help?" The pale girl shouted with wonder. "Were you out of your mind, asking a professor to help decorate a students' room?"

"Well…" Ruby shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time…"

"Hey relax!" Yang called out, coming to her sister's aid. "He is willing to help, so let him!"

"Fantastic!" The man said and returned to the door. "I just have one more thing to take care of before I start." He reached towards something she couldn't see and then pulled another person out of nowhere. "I found this wandering around the halls, does he belong to anyone of you?"

"Jaune!" Ruby yelled and waved at him. "I didn't know you'd come! Congratulations on making team-leader by the way!"

"Oh…hey…thanks…" The blond guy muttered, not looking entirely comfortable in his current position. "Weren't you on the plane…sir?"

"Yes! Well, no, actually yes, but I wasn't actually on the plane. Its complicated."

"Well…Weiss asked me to help…so here I am!" He laughed nervously as Ruby turned to face Weiss.

"Seriously? You asked _him_ to help us? I thought-" She looked back at Jaune and took a few steps clover to her. "I thought you didn't like him!" She whispered at her."

"I don't!" Weiss replied. "But I only encountered team JNPR and by then, only him and Ren were left. The girls had already departed!"

"Probably to go and furnish their room!" Ruby hissed at her and looked over her shoulder. Yang was hanging around the door and Blake was still reading her book, occasionally glancing at the strange events that took place in their bedroom. "So where is Ren?"

"No idea!"

The redhead spun around and smiled at Jaune and the professor, hoping that they wouldn't realize the awkwardness of the situation. "So…let's get started shall we?"

"Aren't we still waiting for someone else?" The man replied and took another look at the door. Seriously, why was that thing so interesting?

"Well…" Her big sister said and ran a hand through her hand. "I don't know about Weiss' second guy, but my person hasn't shown up yet."

So Ren was still nowhere to be found and Yang's help had yet to arrive. That still left six of them to deal with their luggage –which had to be enough, right?

"So…" Weiss started. "I guess that this will be enough. The classes won't start until tomorrow morning. We have the rest of the day to get our stuff and decorate the room –that should be enough right?"

"Well…I guess so." Blake said and shut her book. "We might as well get started."

"Right!" Ruby said and let her voice echo through the room, letting her teammates hear her. "Team RWBY! We are going to find our luggage and bring it to our room and we will do it now! Weiss, lead the way!"

"Yes, oh leader!" Miss Schnee sarcastically said, but Ruby pretended that she didn't hear her. At least the girl followed her orders and that counted, right?

Weiss left the room and started their journey towards the main hall. Blake and Yang looked at each other before shrugging and following her.

She turned towards the young professor and tried to think of something she could say without somehow insulting him. He had been very nice to her when she had encountered him down the hallway, but she didn't exactly know why he had agreed to help her. She had simply blurted out that they still needed to move their luggage and he had offered to help her do so.

"Ehm…" She started. His face told her so many things that she started to doubt whether she could trust the signals she was seeing.

"Will you stop doing that?" He suddenly said, completely catching her off guard.

"What?"

"Reading me! It's very rude to do that, you know."

He knew that she was reading him? But she had broken the habit of dumbly staring at a person's face to get information out of them months ago! The longest time she stared at someone to read them was about a few seconds and that was it. How did he know?

"I'm sorry…" She said and quickly dropped her gaze.

"Team RWBY really is a weird little gang…" The man muttered and then started towards the exit. "But then again, Beacon is filled with weird little persons. This year has only just started and the situation is already growing wobbly…but I guess I never told you my name, now did I Ruby?"

"Eh…no sir.:" She replied. She had seen the guy on the dropship and then later, on Beacon Cliffs. He had built the gun-turret which she had used to kill the giant Nevermore –which had been locked down, according to him. But when she had gotten there, it was ready for usage. So who had readied it for her?

And why did the professor's mind seem to jump from one irregular thought to another? It just didn't make sense!

"Well then, you can call me-"

"_Who do you think you are? No, who do you think I AM!" _The loud noise of Weiss screaming sounded down the hallway and caused both Ruby and her conversational partner to cringe.

"Matt…" The man finished his sentence and visibly gulped. "Ladies first?"

Really. He was letting HER face an enraged Weiss instead of going out to meet her in the field? Great hunter he was!

"Gee…thanks…" She muttered and exited the room with her head hanging low.

"She's your teammate, you need to get her back in line." Matt added and followed her outside, with one hand touching his bowtie and the other one closing the door behind them.

"I know that…" Ruby unhappily replied. "She's just so much to handle…"

So much indeed.

~0~

"Who do you think you are!" Weiss yelled and placed her hands on her hips. This guy had just appeared out of nowhere in his weird little clothes and proceeded to nearly bump into her! Her! What was he thinking! He actually touched her before he spun out of the way. His silly black pants had brushed against her skirt before she could jump out of the way.

Wait a second…Ruby had told her that it was wrong to yell 'Who do you think you are' to people. Why that was supposed to be was beyond her, but she had to admit that the redhead was good when it came to saying the right things to people. So she would listen to her 'leader' and change her habit. "No," She then said, "Who do you think I am!"

Yang came running down the corner just when the jerk answered her. "Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee dust company. Seventeen years old, left-handed user of dust and Myrtenaster."

Wait…what? This guy actually knew her and her royal background? So he wasn't a complete caveman like she initially thought! But she had not expected him to answer her like that…it actually left her without any sort of remark.

"If you'll excuse me ma'am." The guy said and continued down the hall –just as Yang and Blake arrived.

"Hey manners-man!" The blond girl yelled as soon as she saw him. "You actually showed up!"

"I promised you next time." The guy answered her. "This is it."

What was going on? Had Yang met this guy before?

She took a closer look at him and the first thing she noticed, was the completely emotionless expression that lay in his face. It was a cold, hard expression that actually shocked her. How had she not noticed that before? His usage of the word ma'am indicated that he was not the caveman she had thought him to be but…seriously, where had Yang met him?

"Ah!" The professor said as soon as he and Ruby joined them. "Two more hands to help us! Fantastic!"

Weiss looked back and forth between her teammates and the strange men they had called in to help them.

Ruby had gotten the strange Professor and Yang had pulled this weird student out of somewhere. How –in the name of that was sane- had these two sisters managed to change something as simple as carrying luggage into…into this!

She would really need to start understanding the new world around her. Otherwise, she might get lost in a torrent of reasonless actions and impulses.

"Has anyone seen my red bowtie, by the way?"

Seriously?

~0~

"_Teams RWBY, JNPR, LACG and CRDL are the newest teams formed at our Beacon Academy. There are multiple lectures planned for the coming weeks but I am not sure as to Ozpin wants me to get anywhere near his students. He and Glynda are giving me all kinds of mixed signals –amongst which are the lovely Miss Goodwitch spraying me with a water bottle when I approach her students. Perhaps I need to reevaluate my findings._

- Logbook Entry by Matt, day of the Initiation.

~0~

**And our mysterious logbook creating madman is revealed! Yes, each and every Unknown logbook entry at the beginning and the end of a chapter has been done by the lovely bowtie wearing man/child, unless specified otherwise.**

**The style which I had to use to write the second halve of this chapter was really different compared to the first halve. It hope it isn't that obvious; small talk is very hard!**

**At least to me!**

**Yes. The Initiation is over and I know what that means. That the AU elements May Fall.**

**Although the presence of several noncanon characters might be enough for some readers to consider this story 'alternate' already….**

**Tune in for the next chapter! Fave it, follow it, Review it! Feedback is important for a writer to improve upon his/her style. And I know that there are **_**a lot**_** of ways for me to improve. There is an entire Writers road ahead of me…**

**Just like there is an entire Story-road ahead of you!**

**Alons-y!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Pre-story babbling:**

**It is that time again people! Chapter six is here! And now! Read it while it is hot! Or stuff.**

**SamG17 'B-13: ****ooh! My likey that! Thanks for being my newest Liker and Faver…also much thanks for reviewing. I like reviews!**

~0~

"_There are a few nasty diseases out there, but Dementia has to be one of the worse ones. Caused by long-term decline in the body due to damage or disease, a unique form of brain damage or intense trauma's, this condition causes a serious loss in cognitive ability. Well technically it isn't a disease, but rather less-than-specific syndrome. Aside from the whole cognitive whoopy-bandy, it can also cause a severe disorientation in time…and in society. Memory-loss isn't that uncommon, really."_

"_This is very all very interesting Matt, but I asked whether you have met a Faunus in your life or not."_

"_Oh hush you, this is more interesting than fluffy little animal slash people."_

- Conversation between Matt and Professor Oobleck.

~0~

Beacon Academy, 14:00 hours

"This is not going according to plans."

"You shut up! This is going perfectly according to my plans!"

Grace sighed and continued watching her teammates fuss over the placement of their clothes. After having carried their luggage all the way up to their dorms, the four members of team LACG had decided to start decorating immediately. But having to share a room with a total of four completely different students was proving to be harder than expected.

"I can't keep this up."

"Stop whining and keep holding on!"

Lisa –their newly appointed team leader- was apparently thinking that stacking four cases of luggage worth of clothes in the arms of one Cho was a good idea. But seeing as the poor guy was holding a pile of at least two five feet high now and having trouble keeping it upright, something had to be wrong with the idea.

"Am I standing on something?"

The Jason tried to take a step backwards to save his balance and stepped on a round object by accident.

"Yes you are." Lisa replied absentmindedly and took another look around the room. There were four beds standing ready for sleepy-time and she was deciding where they would stand the best.

Noticing how poor Cho was about to lose his balance and fall, Grace stepped forwards and grabbed his shoulders, preventing him from falling down. "That would be my fault!" She smiled when she took notice of what it was exactly that her teammate had nearly tripped over. It was one of her grenades –funny thing must have fallen during their trip to retrieve their luggage.

"Where do we put the clothes?" She then said, hoping that their leader was done with her little planning.

"I think…we have a cabinet somewhere…" The girl replied without taking her eyes of the interior. "If we can divide it in four parts…we can dump our clothes there."

"Brilliant idea girl…" she responded and glanced over her shoulder. Allesa was sitting on a bed, still wearing her blindfold. Seriously, why did she do that? How could she even see where she was going when she couldn't see?

"What now…" Cho sighed.

"Now, we stuff all our clothes in the cabinet, close the thing and place our beds where they need to stand." Lisa said and took the stack of clothes from her teammate's arms.

While she was placing their stuff in the in the wooden furniture, Grace took another look at the blindfolded girl. Her long, white hair was adorned with blue strings. Those looked like they were natural…which was very weird, considering the fact that the people back where she came from all had single-coloured hair. Perhaps the girl was a foreigner?

"I like your hair." Grace said and sat down on her own bed. Even though the room was completely bare, they had already decided on sleeping positions. Her bed was wedged against a wall to the right of the door, while the bed of her childhood friend was all the way left.

The girl didn't respond to her compliment, but that was okay. Perhaps she was tired, or sad or something. It was noon, so perhaps there were certain things she needed to get done before she would socialize with her new team. But now that it was decorating-time, it was the perfect opportunity to talk and get to know each other wasn't it?

"Can I ask you a question?" The demolitions expert said.

No response. Okay..."If you don't mind me asking, how can you see with a blindfold? To some people it wouldn't make sense."

No response. "Not that I am one of those people to who it doesn't make sense…I was just wondering, you know?"

She obviously didn't, because there was once again no reply. The girl was supposed to be blind, not deaf.

"It actually fit." Grace suddenly heard Cho say and she turned around to look at the brilliant situation that they had created. Having stuffed all their clothes in one wooden cabinet, the problem seemed to be fixed. Right up to the point where they would actually need their clothes.

"Of course it fits smartass."

Oh boy there they went again. Ever since their less-than-happy meeting in the Emerald forest, fighting had been the only form of interaction between them. It made them look like an old married couple.

"And where will we dump the rest of our stuff?" Grace broke their fighting up and gestured at the open door, where the rest of their luggage was still lying.

"Well…" Lisa started and then fell quiet. Miss Benti could hear Allesa sighing softly from her bed and decided that she wasn't the only one who doubted their furnishing skills.

"I bet that we're the only ones dealing with this…" Jason sighed.

Yeah…he was probably right about that.

~0~

Beacon dormitories, 13:00

"Uh…sir? I think we might be a little bit lost…"

"Don't be ridiculous! We are perfectly where we need to be."

Jaune slowly peeked over the edge and took and took another look at the current inhabitants of the room. "Unless you plan to do something very nasty with your hair sir, I think we are lost."

"Can I have a bit of a hush? I'm trying to read here!"

Why was the professor carrying a map of Beacon Academy with him? The area was so large that it should be impossible to locate a room on a map of that scale. "Professor, I really think you should take a look out there!"

Their current position really wasn't the best hiding space. Not only was it very crowded, it was also completely unsafe. If anyone –absolutely anyone would find them in there, not even the professor's high rank would safe him from the resulting slaughter.

"What could be more interesting out there than my little map? Did you see it? It is really all paperly with colours and blips. I love blips."

"But sir, don't you realize that we are in big trouble?"

"Jaune we are searching for the baggage of four lovely ladies. A room full of them. What on Vale made you think that we were safe in the beginning?"

But this was getting seriously dangerous!

He couldn't take it anymore and hissed: "Professor we are standing in the ladies-room!"

During their mad dash to find a few cases of luggage, the man known as Matt had dragged him by his arm right into a bathroom with a few stalls…and he had proceeded to completely miss the 'girls only' sign nailed on the door.

And now he was stuck with a Beacon professor in a ladies bathroom-stall. Now exactly the future glory he had expected. Still, he was lucky that the man was being quiet. The map had been an excellent distraction and even though up to three girls had walked into the room and left without detecting them, there was bound to be someone who would find them in there.

And Jaune knew just how ladies at Beacon liked to take care of their problems.

"Yes, we are…" Matt absentmindedly said. "Big great ladies-room now…here and now…could you just sip your little mouth for a few seconds? There is a little problem I have to work out…something is very wrong here…" He looked up and glanced around his surroundings: spotting the female-drawings on the door, eyeing the shoes of the ladies who had entered the room and finally returning his gaze to the map.

Jaune was just about to say something when the professor's head suddenly snapped up again. His eyes were big and his mouth now resembled a small 'o'. "We're in the ladies-room!"

"That's what I kept saying!"

"Be quiet Jaune, I'm thinking."

The man was quiet for a few moments before he started blabbering again. "Well…I seem to have made a…minor…small…sort of…whoopsie."

_You don't say…_ "And that would be…?"

"I have put us in terrible danger! We marched into the territory of women. But don't fret! I will save us!"

What?

"Now, I just need a minor distraction. If you don't mind me doing _this_!" Matt pulled out a small, silvery object and waved it through the air. Virtually a second later, one of the handbasin's exploded and suddenly everything was being sprayed by powerful torrents of water. A girl started screaming and his fellow-stall occupier suddenly yelled in his ear.

"Now go go go!"

The professor kicked the door open. Jaune had one second to look at the occupants of the room before he felt someone tucking at his arm. He let the man lead him out of the stall and tried to ignore the feminine screams of surprise that were filling the air. Even though he didn't recognize the brown-haired girl who –up to a few seconds ago- had been using the water basin undisturbed, he was sure that she could kick his ass many times over.

If his lovely teammates were any indications of the female prowess on this Academy, that is.

"Keep moving! You don't want to turn around about now!"

That scared the crap out of him. "Why not?" He instinctively turned around to see if there was anyone tailing them, but the hallway was clear as ever. Or as it ever was, he didn't exactly know. He hadn't been here before.

"Because turning around while running will either play hell with your fibrocartilaginous structures or with the cervical portion of your spine? Also, you might run headfirst into a wall. Walls are mean things Jaune, remember that!"

Was this man completely insane?

"Now…before we continue prancing on like cocktails and silly billies I want to be completely sure that we are in fact, completely lost. So, rom the count of my mind, if you could guess between left and above, would it be right?"

"Uhm…" Jaune muttered and scratched his head. The two of them had stopped running and now the professor was busy trying to decide how they could proceed. "Well…yes? I mean no? Wait. Is it a trick-question? In that case, right!"

"Good!" Matt said and promptly entered the left hallway. That wasn't very nice.

"Hold up!" Jaune yelled and followed to strange man. "Where are we even going? Don't you have a map or anything?"

"A map is just a piece of paper young man! Brains are better than paper everytime. Except on Thursdays."

And with that, mister Arc was once again forced to run after the professor, who had completely ignored everything he had said up to now.

~0~

"Uhm…guys?" Blake broke the silence that had permeated their group for thirty seconds now. "I think we lost the professor…and the blond kid."

"Jaune?" Ruby replied. "What do you mean we 'lost' them?"

"As in they're not following us anymore?"

Well. That was slightly problematic. Because she could have sworn that their group was sticking close during their trip to the lower level where their baggage was waiting for them. She knew that the boy had a tendency to get into major trouble, but to get lost already? And with Matt there to accompany him? Just how much trouble did he attract when not around his team?

Ruby stopped walking and turned to face her teammate. "Uhm...when was the last time you saw them?"

"No idea. I just happened to look behind me and then they were gone."

This was just terrific! Their first action as a team and not only had they called people in who were essentially strangers to them; they had also managed to lose two of said strangers while performing said action! Could this possibly get any worse?

"Hey girls!" Her big sister yelled, completely ignoring the fact that there was still one guy with them, "I have found our luggage!"

That was a major relieve. Usually when she thought 'could this get any worse' the universe found some way to make her little head realize just how bad things could actually get. Ruby had half expected their baggage to be on fire just about now.

"But the people we employed to help us are nowhere to be found!" Weiss said and placed her hands on her hips in a -_Eyebrows meeting in the center, lower muscles around the eyes contracted, jaw-line set firm and position of the shoulders exaggerated. Tension or frustration? Possible anger or bottled up emotions? A slight drag on the left corner of the mouth suggests a slight amusement. So no anger or bottled up emotions- _frustrated gesture and sighed.

Ruby raised her finger in the air and corrected her. "Implored, Weiss. We implored them."

"Doesn't change the fact that they are gone…" Blake dryly said. _Thank you for that, very useful._

"So what do we do now?" Yang said and looked around. "We have our stuff and we could simply carry it upstairs. It wouldn't be very hard."

"Not to you, no!" Weiss bit at the blonde. "Some of us don't really like manual labor!"

"Nobody does, Weiss." Ruby pointed out and walked up to her own bag. The only stuff she had taken with her were the minimal requirements for one night worth of sleep and one day worth of Initiation. "But sometimes, it is necessary."

"Yes!" The girl replied. "And that is why we brought 'help' initially!"

"You guys do realize that one of our 'help' is still standing here, right?" Yang said and pointed with her thumb at the person she had brought with her. "I think five people are good enough to help us, don't you think?"

As a matter of fact, she did. "Good enough for me. Let's get busy!"

And then together, the girls (and the one guy) retrieved their luggage and started hauling it upstairs. During their work, it occurred to Ruby that even though Yang had managed to convince the boy to help them, the two of them weren't speaking that much. ON the contrary; he didn't speak at all. Why was that? Blake and Yang were talking –or rather, Yang was speaking and Blake was listening- and even she and Weiss were babbling about daily things like the upcoming colleges and the time she exploded. Perhaps he was shy? No, his features were too…hard...to be shy. Perhaps there was something else there…something she hadn't seen before.

"So what's your name?" She said, hoping that his reaction would reveal something to her. _Eye-shape remains exactly the same, no contraction around the jawline…pokerface?_

So…no reaction at all. Neither a verbal one nor a nonverbal one.

"Hello!" Weiss then yelled at her. "I was asking you something?"

Damn. She had forgotten that she was talking to someone during her little experiment of…talking to someone else…

"Yeah!" Ruby quickly replied. "My answer would be…ehm…no!"

Miss Schnee raised one eyebrow at that. Universal sign of being skeptic….had she made a mistake? "Your answer is no? Your answer to how we should decorate our tiny little room is _no_?"

Yes…she had made a mistake.

"You weren't listening!"

"Yes I was!"

"Then why did your answer make NO sense whatsoever?"

"Did it now? I have no idea what you are talking about!"

"Aargh! Sop being such a child!"

"Not that again…I am NOT being a child!"

"Yes you are!"

"Am not!"

"Ladies! Guess who's back!"

_That doesn't sound like Weiss…or Yang or Blake or the silent male behind them…and it wasn't Ruby. _

"Now Jaune, remember what I told you."

"The thing about running into things while looking over your shoulder?"

"The other one."

"About never eating vegetables when things are on fire?"

"For the love of sanity Jaune! About…about _ladies!_"

Ruby turned around and saw that both Jaune and Matt had rejoined them. That was good, now they could take some of their luggage over. But where had they been? And what were they even talking about? Did nobody remember how to make sense?

"What did you say about ladies sir?" The blond kid asked nervously. That caught the attention of the entire team RWBY, much to his fear. Or that of Matt's, depending on what had been said.

The professor looked around and smiled while straightening his bowtie. "Well…apart from the obvious thingies, ladies like guys who treat them right!"

Then he looked to his right and softly muttered: "Or were they looking for guys who left them left?"

"Excuse me!" Weiss said and angrily crossed her arms; a notable feat, considering that she was carrying a large suitcase. "Where were you two? We had to carry all _this _completely on our own!"

Ruby snickered softly. Most of the baggage that they needed to carry belonged to the Schnee heiress…and she was carrying the least of it. She had virtually no right to complain and yet she was complaining the most.

"Don't worry about it one bit miss Schnee! We are here now and we are completely carrying your luggage!"

_What? How was that possible_? Ruby turned around and saw that the professor and the Arc were, in fact, carrying baggage with them. How had they managed to do that? Getting lost and then returning to appear with their stuff?

And were all these professors so strange?

~0~

Beacon Academy, 13:15

The moment that the four girls had reached their room, they started to talk again. The professor Matt –_a possible relation to the mister M who had displaced his gear_?- told Jaune that he would better return to his own team before they started to miss him. After that, the man himself excused himself and quickly disappeared, leaving him alone with the four girls.

Now that their luggage had been retrieved, he could focus on more important matters. Matters which didn't involve pointless banter, social interaction and stupid movements throughout Beacon. He had fulfilled his 'promise' to the female named Yang and now he was free to continue with his operations.

"Leaving so soon?" The redheaded girl called Ruby asked him. There was no use denying it; he wanted to leave their presence ASAP.

"Yes." The scroll in his pocket started to vibrate and he pulled it out.

"Don't you want to stay and talk? Yang told me that you don't have a team, so unlike Jaune you don't have responsibilities like team-members to see to. Right?"

_Very wrong._

He deployed the piece of equipment and activated the communication system. A new message had arrived, coming from the Headmaster himself.

"I have to leave now." He said and turned around.

"At least tell me your name!" The female replied, but he had no desire to stay around people longer than he needed to. It was unknown to him why he had even come to her in the first place. Probably because he didn't had anything else to do until his first missions could commence and carrying luggage from one level to another _could _be considered training.

The moment he cleared the hallway he brought the message up and read it.

'_Two-Oxford:_

_You are to travel to the city of Vale and perform a snatch-and-grab in Warehouse six. We have confirmed identification on a known crime-associated politician and it will be your job to find and capture that man. Coordinates for a safehouse to store him will be sent only after you confirmed his capture. We believe he holds vital information._

_Get that information._

It didn't say who had sent the message, but then again it didn't need to. He knew it came from the higher-ups and what it meant; a proper mission to focus on. The past two days had been…confusing for him.

Folding the scroll back, he headed towards the cargo-bay where his stuff was waiting for him. Warehouse six lay somewhere at the corner of Vale; meaning that he would have to grab some transport to get there. But seeing as the building was the safehouse of a corrupt politician, he would have to take extreme measures and precautions to avoid detection until he would be in the perfect position to strike. There was no Intel on the opposition, but the people in the district of Vale were very strange in their offensive capabilities. Like the Malachite twins in the Club where Yang Xiao Long had scouted for a HVT. The two girls were very well trained and disciplined; if he were to run in any people trained at an Academy, he would have to bring equipment for short to medium range.

That meant bringing a side-arm, his MK3 assault rifle and two combat knives.

Well…the crime sector in this city seemed fond of using large bladed weapons like katana's and fire-axes.

That meant two combat knives with large blades.

He reached the cargo-bay where all his equipment was and walked straight towards his suit's locker. During his light scaffolding in the Emerald Forest he had wasted two grenades to take down the tailing Ursa's. Two! He could have simply continued on towards the temple-grounds but no, he had to waste valuable equipment because he was unsure of the fact whether he would run into other hostiles.

Still, he could simply improvise.

Donning his combat-suit, he thought back on the last time he had visited the city of Vale. It had been on a similar mission, somewhere around a month back.

_No! Focus on the mission. _

He strapped the armoured components of his suit on and reached for his helmet, but then he stopped and looked at something which had attracted his attention form the corner of his eye. His scroll had buzzed to life again, indicating another received message.

Additional Intel? Secondary objectives?

'_Transport is standing at the ready. Head to the following coordinates.'_

A set of coordinates was attached to the message –which solved the problem of how to get to warehouse six.

He slapped a fresh magazine in his assault rifle and strapped the pistol to its holster on his hip.

~0~

Beacon dormitories, 13:20

"Jaune!" She yelled with surprise when she saw their leader enter the dorms. He had missed the entire furnishing operation and –if she was completely honest- slightly worried her with his absence.

"Where have you been!" Nora asked him accusingly. "We had to decorate all without you!"

"I…I had to help someone." The blonde replied and gazed around the room. "Wow, you guys really have a talent for this!"

The room was decorated very stylishly, much to his apparent surprise. Obviously the various personalities on team JNPR hadn't clashed in any way, seeing as to how all the beds had a similar style. Of course the room had been divided into four parts, each to be decorated by its owner; still leaving a blank spot for his own things.

"And who was that!" The orange-haired girl called out and brought her face close to his. "Where did you go off to?"

_Personal space, Nora. Personal space._

"Relax, Nora." Ren said and diverted the girl's attention from the unfortunate newcomer. "Nobody told Jaune that we would be decorating so soon."

"We didn't?" She said, her voice tailored with surprise. "Oh! Why didn't you say so?"

_That's a good girl, back up and grant the lad his personal space._

"I'm glad that you are back, Jaune." Pyrrha said and walked up to the boy. "If I might inquire, where did you go?"

"Well, team RWBY asked me to help them with their luggage. They had quite a lot of stuff to be carried."

_Team RWBY? Which one of them had asked him?_

"You helped someone else's team with their luggage!" Nora said mockingly. "How could you!"

"They still had their luggage downstairs?" Ren asked. "Not the smartest decision."

"But I got to meet one of the professors!" Mister Arc said and again, all the attention was aimed at him. Pyrrha found herself also intruding on his personal space, but this time it didn't matter.

"A professor? When you were carrying luggage?"

"Uhm… yes?" he replied, looking a bit scared by all the new attention. But since when did the professors walk around the school? The classes weren't scheduled to start until next morning, so why…?

"Which one did you meet?" She replied, hoping that she could get a bit more information out of her team-member.

"The crazy one from the ship!" Jaune yelled –which probably wasn't his intention." He looked rather panicky now.

_It might be a good idea to let him relax a bit now –allow him to breathe._

Wait…the guy from the ship was a professor? The one who had broken his supportive strap, created seventeen new dents in the design and then proceeded to save Jaune's life by acting ridiculous? Was he supposed to teach them? That could be…well, apart from disastrous that could be interesting. "And why was he there?"

"Well…" Their leader said and walked up to his bed. Now that he had recovered from his initial shock, confidence seemed to return to him very rapidly. "For some reason, my help alone was insufficient. They needed the help of more people. One of them was this guy I had never seen before and the other one was the professor. He is very…weird."

"Weird?" Nora said and bounced off her bed next to him. "How weird? Good weird? Bad weird? Amusingly weird? How how how!"

_Relax girl. _"Do you mind elaborating a bit, Jaune?"

"He and I…" he started, but then he stopped himself and looked away. A small red blush had formed on his cheeks and slowly, Pyrrha was getting worried again. "There was a…we were…well… "

"Are you alright?" Ren said.

"It was disturbing!" Jaune flapped out. What had happened to him that he was so disturbed that he couldn't even talk about it?

_Wait a minute…that professor wasn't bad looking or old. Couldn't be much older than seven years or so…Jaune himself was an attractive guy…could it be…had an 'incident' taken place?_

Nora sat down next to the boy and wrapped an arm around him. 'Don't worry Jaune, you can tell us EVERYTHING! Right Ren?"

"Right." Her childhood friend confirmed.

"It happened in a restroom…or was it a bathroom?" Their team-leader started, confirming Pyrrha's suspicions. But how? And why? Headmaster Ozpin looked like a very professional man…his choice for their teachers should be sublime.

"We blew up a ladies-room!" Jaune suddenly yelled, managing to silence his entire team in one go. Even Nora was staring at him with a blank expression. Had he actually said that?

"You…what?" Ren said with a confused expression on his face. "A ladies-room? As in, the place where they go and do…lady things?"

And then the floodgates opened.

"We got lost and then he pulled me inside of a bathroom stall in the ladies and then we were stuck and a girl entered and she would kick our ass and then he detonated the washing-bin with a strange device and then there was water everywhere!"

What. He…as in…what? "Slow down!" She said and waved with her hands. "A ladies room? Why did you go there?"

"Well obviously they were lost." Ren said. He was the sole light of reason in the current darkness of team JNPR. "I think that the professor though that he needed to be there…for his own reasons…and accidentally missed the sign…which was bound to be there."

"Yes!" Jaune shouted and pointed at his team-mate. "He was very surprised when he realized where we were!"

This situation was far from ideal to her, but Pyrrha was simply very happy that recent events were simpler and more innocent than she had initially thought. The strange professor's string of thoughts was completely nonsensical to her, but Jaune seemed to have had fun –and that was more important to her.

"Now that we are all here…" She said. "You can decorate your part of the room and then we can discuss what we can do for the rest of the day; we still have some time."

"I'd like that." Jaune replied, visibly relaxing by the kind responses of his team. Nora glared at Ren for a few seconds before she launched herself off of the bed and tackled him to the ground, choking the air out of him in what looked like a loving hug to her but appeared more like an illegal wrestling-move to the rest of them. "We are all together and happy now!" She yelled and squeezed affectionately at her friend's neck.

"Yes…very…happy…air..." He muttered and desperately clutched at his neck.

"So…" Jaune said and stared at the fighting duo on the ground, together with Pyrrha. "What are we going to do today?"

~0~

Approximately 500 meters from Beacon grounds, 13:50 hours

His transportation method involved the usage of a large four-wheel-all-terrain vehicle known as the Puma. This one was an upgraded version of the standard issue all-wheel-drive all-wheel-steering W11 jeeps that the army used in their battles against the Grimm. Even though it hadn't seen any action in the kingdom of Vale, he knew that it was only a matter of time.

The usual design involved a massive anti-air mounted chaingun on the back, but this version had been tailored specifically to his needs. Not his personal ones, but according to the mission parameters. Which meant that the once-formidable medium-armoured heavy duty vehicle was reduced to what could be seen as the 'civvie' version of the series. No weapon platform, coloured in a dull police-blue and a heavily reduced motor to reduce noise were the direct consequences of a low-profile operation.

He disliked it, but he knew that is was necessary if he wanted to get close to the Warehouse. His target would be jumpy in close proximity to an Academy and any sign of hostile forces would cause the man to take drastic evasive action.

So, while he was driving the civilianized Puma towards the outer left edge of the city, he briefly wondered whether he should go low-profile and ditch the car or simply play the I-am-a-proper-person-like-you card and park the jeep somewhere close to the Warehouse. But then he realized that he was fully equipped for a prolonged firefight and that the mere sight of him would cause the target to bail. No, he'd play it low-profile for now and park the car somewhere in the forest nearby. After that, he would simply have to walk two-hundred meters to reach the place.

But as it turned out, things were more complicated than that. From his vantage point on top of a roof, a dozen meters away from the safehouse, he could see that the situation would require more attention than he previously thought. The ´Warehouse´ was in fact a heavily guarded complex with at least a dozen armed men walking around a clearly established perimeter. If the target was able to get so many men to protect him, he was a very influencing man. That made him dangerous to the civilian population –which made him top-priority to take down. The guards walking around were all wielding some form of bladed weapon –a few of them sported firearms and he could even see a man walking around with a shotgun.

A sniper was patrolling the rooftop, making his gap of opportunity even smaller. But the perimeter was sloppy and not very clear; causing the patrolling men to miss quite a few spots. If he was swift…he might be able to slip past the first two guards and enter their perimeter.

He waited until the sniper turned around –ignored the giant bullseye that was the man's head- and dropped down from the rooftop without making a noise. The first two patrollers were unable to spot him, just like he and he quickly moved ahead. There were multiple parked cars and other items he could use as cover and when the sniper turned back to face the main area, he quickly slipped underneath a vehicle. Keeping a close eye on the hostile through a small hole in the metal, he waited until the sniper once again turned his back on him before he moved. There were only three guards between him and the entrance to the Warehouse. The sniper wasn't facing them and the other men were walking away from his position; now was the time to strike.

He emerged from underneath his hiding spot after tearing a small piece of metal out of its socket and moved towards the trio of targets. They were standing close to the entrance and now that he had a closer look, he realized that the sniper couldn't even spot them there. Whoever paid these guys wasn't very large on proficiency.

He increased his speed until he was flat-out sprinting and covered the remaining distance within second. He could have simply opened fire and killed every hostile in sight, but that would alert the guards and more importantly; his target. Stealth would be the key-factor during this operation and he couldn't afford to have even one shot fired until he knew exactly who and where the HVT was. One of the hostiles turned around, saw him approaching their position and was just about to scream and attract unnecessary attention, when a small piece of metal sailed through the air and impacted on his head with a dull 'clunk'

"What-"One of the two remaining men started to say, but he never got to finish his sentence seeing as a boot smashed into his head.

After having dispatched of the first hostile, he jumped in the air and kicked the second one square in his head. That henchman went down as well and now he was only left with the third hostile. That one too, never got the chance to scream when an arm wrapped around his neck and snapped it. Releasing the limp body, he quietly dumped the three guards in a corner before opening the door to the complex.

If he was lucky, he would have five minutes before the bodies were found. Should be enough. If only his superiors had seen fit to outfit him with a silencer…

~0~

Beacon Dormitories, 13:45 hours

"So what now?"

"Take a guess!"

"An educated one?"

"A proper one!"

Back and forth…back and forth…back and forth. Ruby and Weiss had been arguing for at least ten minutes now and it was getting very annoying to watch.

"Perhaps we should all just go out and visit the town of Vale for a change?" Yang tried to break up their fighting. It was an interesting offer she made…so far, Ruby wanted to wander around the campus and Weiss wanted to prepare for the coming lessons by opening her books.

_As long as we can start doing something…_

It didn't matter to Blake what they did; the only thing she wanted was a little peace and harmony in the team. But Weiss and Ruby were like two magnets; always attracting each other and then clashing and pushing against each other.

"That sounds like an interesting idea." She quickly replied to the blonde. "Let's do that. _Now._"

_Please take the offer please take the offer…_

"That sounds like fun!" The two fighting girls simultaneously said without taking their angry glares off each other. They were seriously going to endanger team RWBY if they kept that childish attitude on and the strange thing was it wasn't a constant thing. For example: they had properly decorated the room and created the majestic bunk-beds without quarrel, but then, somewhere around ten minutes ago, a new reason to argue had magically appeared and caused them to start fighting again. So they made it possible to be friends and enemies at the same time…very counterproductive.

"Then what are we waiting for!" Yang then yelled. "Let's go!"

And just like that the four of them donned their normal clothes –meaning combat clothing instead of the Academy Outfits- and moved out. Even though the first attempts to walk through the Academy without a professional escort usually ended in catastrophe, this attempt didn't go astray. They managed to exit Beacon grounds without getting lost once and then they were on their way to the city of Vale –which lay on a walking distance of only fifteen to twenty minutes.

"So what do you think thus far?" Yang asked her little sister. Good; if the two sisters were talking together, then that meant less fighting and more social interaction.

"That the trees are nice?" The redhead replied carefully. _That probably isn't what Yang means…_

"No silly!" The blonde said, confirming Blake's suspicions. "Of the school! And more importantly, the people!"

"You are going to have to be a little bit clearer on that matter." Ruby said with a profession that indicated that this wasn't the first time she was unable to answer a question from Yang directly. Was the blonde so bad at asking them? Or was Ruby just so bad in answering them?

"Okay…are you happy with the way our room is decorated?"

"Of course I am! I led that expedition, remember?"

"That's right, but…you know…meh, what do you think about the other teams?"

_Now that is an interesting question._ What did she think about the other ones?

"I only met team JNPR recently and I don't even know team CRDL or LACG. But I do like Jaune…he is nice."

"Oh, you like him don't you!" Yang teased. It took her little sister a few moments to process that remark, but when she did she immediately retaliated. "Oh shut up you!" She said and tried to punch her sister –who nimbly sidestepped. "It's not like that! And you are the one talking; bringing a total stranger with you to help!"

"You brought the professor!"

"Who wasn't a total stranger; I met him on the plane!"

"And I met the guy twice before the Initiation: once the night before it and then again on the morning itself!"

Ruby smiled subtly and Blake realized that she had once again picked up on something she could use to her favor. "You said 'the guy'. And you hesitated when you said that."

Then she pointed at her big sister and exclaimed: "You don't even know his name!"

That took Yang by surprise alright. "That is- I don't…but…"

"So he was a total stranger when you took him with you!"

"Shut up!" The blonde said with a big smile and pulled her sister in a tight embrace. "So if it's not Jaune…did you meet anyone else who you might like?"

"In the brief two days I have been on Beacon? No, not yet. There was the professor who took Jaune and got lost with him –and then there is the boyfriend of Nora…and I think that there was another guy on team LACG…the last team…well…"

Now it was getting interesting. Blake had gotten a nasty feeling when around team CRDL herself –and Ruby had proven that she was perfectly capable of deciding whether she could trust someone or not.

"I don't know what to think about them…they seem…off."

"Off?" Weiss spoke for the first time since leaving the Academy grounds. "How off?"

"Yes!" Blake said, glad that she wouldn't be the first to intrude on the sister's conversation. "What do you think about them?"

"Did you see the way Cardin looked when he was appointed a leader? His chest rose even though he was standing at perfect attention, he got a smug smile on his face and his chin rose!"

"And that's bad?" Blake asked.

"It is indicative of a severe need to be in power…and that need usually manifests itself in abuse of said power. I don't think he is a very nice guy…but I guess we will have to wait and see for ourselves."

The four of them had reached the edge of the city of Vale now. Blake could see the beautiful buildings lying ahead –it truly was a magnificent place to behold.

"That is a nice sight!" Yang said and crossed her arms. "Why didn't we come here sooner?"

"No time…" Ruby muttered and took a few steps forwards. They were standing on a medium-sized hill, looking down at the city from above. It wasn't that high, but the feeling of being able to look _down_ and still see something so nice was…probably a bit overwhelming. "But I do plan on coming here more often!"

"I guess so too." Blake said and brushed a string of hair out of her face. "I wonder what lies down there…"

"Shops!" Weiss said happily and clasped her hands together. "I bet that there are multiple shops down there and places where you can eat and places where you can watch classic ballet!"

That was a sudden change of attitude. One would think that Weiss Schnee of all people had visited Vale more than enough?

"I want to visit 'From Dust till Dawn' again…if it is still there!" The redhead yelled and continued walking down the hill.

"Perhaps we could simply look around and remember any nice places to visit for next time?" Yang said and followed her sister. Weiss took a few seconds to look at Blake and shake her head, but then she too followed the siblings.

Blake unfolded her scroll and took a look at the time: 14:07. Plenty of time to tour a considerable portion of the city before they had to return. It was a very large place after all, and even though they were only at its edge, having the time to scout a large place made a person lose track of time very soon.

She closed the device and, with a small smile, followed her team-members.

~0~

Warehouse Six, 14:02

The door opened after the second attempt and he entered the complex. He had an objective to reach and it wouldn't do him any good if he got lost. Not knowing who and where the target was could be a major problem in his mission, but he wouldn't allow that to stop him.

He moved through the hallways like a shadow; without making a single noise and completely unnoticed. Twice he encountered a camera and twice had had been forced to remove it; increasing the chance of being found out. But that didn't matter much; he had the element of surprise on his side. By the time the slow mercenaries found out that there was an intruder, he would be long gone.

With a prisoner.

He opened another door and ran headfirst into a group of five armed men. They had been sitting on a table playing poker, but it seemed that something way more interesting had stumbled into the room now.

"Who-"one of them started, but he didn't give the man a chance to continue talking. He charged forwards and unsheathed his combat knife while he did so. His five opponents were all wearing the same attire: black clothes and boots, a ridiculous collection of hats and some red glasses. Their weapons of choice were currently all melee weapons which was good for him; it would make less noise to fight these hostiles that way.

He took the first two targets by surprise; he grabbed the man by his face and lowered his own stance whilst moving a foot forwards, completely decimating the hostile's balance. Then he slammed his head into the table and broke the wooden piece of furniture in half. His leg snapped up and caught the second man underneath his chin, which send him flying through she same door he had first entered.

By the time two seconds had passed, the remaining enemies picked up their weapons. With his thirty centimeter long knife, he parried two slashed of axes and retaliated both times; stabbing one of them right in his face and breaking the other man's ribs with a roundhouse kick. While he staggered backwards, the soldier sidestepped the last one and grabbed his swinging axe. He spun around and slashed the man's abdomen with the bladed edge; succeeding in neatly severing the fellow's belt. After that he moved again and caught the man with the hilt of the weapon against his throat. He had his back to the man; chocking him with his own weapon and facing the nearest door himself. A new group of hostiles had entered the fray and some of them were wielding firearms.

"Hold it!" The leading mercenary yelled and prepared to fire his own machinegun. That wouldn't happen.

He let go of one handle of the axe and spun around on his heel. Holding the fire-axe with only one arm, he used the sudden release of pressure to swing it 360 degrees around and knock the guns out of the enemies' arms. The attacker whose belt he had slashed apart stumbled to the ground, nearly embracing it because of his sudden freedom and fresh oxygen, before a punch to his balls and a kick to his head effectively brought him down.

One of the hostiles had managed to grab a reserve pistol and tried to aim it at him, but he was way too slow. The helmeted soldier took two steps forward and brought his right hand down on the sidearm while his left hand connected with the nearest chin. Then he dove underneath the now extended arm and pulled it to the ground, nearly tearing the arm out of its socket and sending the criminal crashing to the ground.

A quick stomp with his boot made sure that he wouldn't be bothered again and he prepared to set out again. But no sooner had he dispatched of the latest hostile, or a sudden alarm flared to life. Red lights flooded the hallways and a blaring horn effectively woke up the entire warehouse.

Damnit. Who had tripped that alarm? None of his enemies had had the chance to do so; he had eliminated them all. So there was either someone else currently infiltrating the complex, or some silent alert had tripped the main alarm.

It all meant the same. Move quick or let the target spring.

~0~

"So this is the commercial district?" Yang softly said as they passed yet another café where a bunch of teens were sitting enjoying a cup of coffee. "Looks cozy."

"We are just here to plan our next trips Yang, control your happiness." Her little sister replied, alternating between watching her scroll and watching where she was going. "For now, remember what you saw and keep it in mind for our next trip."

"But that won't be until next weekend!" The blonde returned. "Which will take four days! Four! I don´t want to wait that long; I want to relax on a terrace right now!"

"There there…it will be alright."

Weiss sighed contently and placed her hands behind her neck, obviously enjoying the sunlight. "You know, I think that things will turn out to be alright. It's a lovely day; the sun is shining, we have the rest of the day off and we don't have to work in any way whatsoever!"

"If you put it like that…" Blake said.

"But consider!" Ruby quickly intervened. "We have lots of spare time now, but once school actually starts, we'll most likely be in over our necks in the work."

"Well if you put it like that…" Miss Belladonna replied.

"That's typical for you!" Weiss said angrily, directing her anger towards her. "You always find a way to make something annoying to think about!"

That was a bit harsh. This was the first time she actually did that; usually Ruby was the one who made things sound happy instead of sad! "Why are you suddenly so angry now Weiss? You shift emotions faster than…than…"

A terrifying idea rose in her mind and she gasped in shock. Checking if there was anyone who could hear her, she whispered: "Is it…your time?"

Yang and Blake quickly increased speed and moved ahead, seemingly understanding the problem. Weiss however, didn't.

"What are you talking about?" She said. _Eyebrows frown slightly, slight contraction near eyes…genuine surprise, not forced enough to indicate false emotions. _Ow…whoops.

"Nothing!" Ruby quickly said, realizing she had made a terrible mistake. Of course it wasn't that time! _She _wore red, Weiss wore white. She would have noticed whether it was or not. She quickly took a few running steps to join her team-members, hoping with all of her heart that the Schnee Heiress wouldn't understand what she had insinuated.

"What did you mean? Ruby!"

All four of them were moving down the road now. For some reason, the Rose had a strange need to visit the large Warehouse on the outer edge of the district. People kept whispering about how certain Warehouses were completely off-limits to certain people and –judging by their facial expressions when they said so- they were nearly…scared by the whispers? Why would gossip about restricted warehouses be scary?

Of course she needed to know. So when Yang was busy memorizing yet another cute little stand, Ruby carefully brought up the subject.

"Why would you want to even find out?" Blake asked her. She did have a point…but Ruby didn't give a damn about her point. She wanted to find out why the people were scared of a warehouse, strange as it sounded.

"Just follow me!" She replied and headed towards the infamous warehouse Six. It seemed that the closer she got to the borders of Vale's commercial district, the more the general mood seemed to drop. It almost felt a bit…grim.

Not the best description she had ever given to a city-mood.

Eventually she found herself in front of a large gate, where two black-clothed males were standing. They were holding their arms behind their backs and wearing black sunglasses. For some reason they reminded her of the henchmen that had been recruited by Torchwick.

"Is this where you wanted to go sis?" Yang asked her when she had caught up. "Doesn't look too cozy…remind me again why this place is so important? It looks so gloomy.

_Gloomy! That was the description that would fit better than grim! It was bad luck to use the word ´grim´._

"Because of the fact that everyone in the happy district seems to generally feel bad about the Warehouse in question? Because they all whisper about it and fear it? Because the people guarding it don't look like manual laborers?"

"Good enough for team RWBY, I suppose…" Yang muttered and ran her hand through her hair. That act caught the attention of one of the two males and his head turned ever so slightly towards the general direction of her big sister. _Big pervert…_

"So…what now?" Blake said and joined them at the gate.

"I just want to find out-"The redhead started, but the rest of her words stalled in her throat as a red light flared to life a few meters next to the iron gate and the two guards suddenly turned around and headed towards the building, all the while they were shouting orders to _someone_.

"Is that an alarm?" Weiss asked.

"I guess so…" Yang said and crossed her arms. "But what could have caused-"

She too was forced to swallow her words before she could speak them; gunshots rang out and people started to scream from inside the building. Windows sprang and a shape fell out of one on the second floor, hitting the ground with a dull 'thud'.

Ruby groaned in frustration as she realized that she had led her team into a live firefight. That was seriously the biggest form of bad luck she had had as the team-leader up to now. Following vague gossip and then stumbling into some sort of fight without any warning was something that could only happen to the most unlucky person on Beacon –and she honestly thought that had to be either Jaune or Matt.

"Good job, Ruby!" Weiss sarcastically said.

"I am no stranger to sarcasm…" She softly replied and considered simply turning back to avoid any stray bullets. She had never ever been shot in her life and she would like to keep it that way. The best thing to do right now would be to run away…but she wanted to know what was going on.

"What now?" Blake said after a brief lull in the shooting. More windows had popped and at least three more people had fallen out of the building.

"We investigate!" Yang said and smashed her hands together.

"Are you nuts?!" Weiss replied and ducked when another salvo of fire went off. "We should run away right NOW!"

Decisions decisions…

~0~

Warehouse six, 14:13

So things were turning from bad to worse. In the three minutes that had followed since someone had tripped the alarm, he had been forced to run through narrow hallways, clear large rooms with scattered hostiles and even crawl through a piece of the ceiling.

All the while shooting and killing every armed personnel he encountered. Every room he entered, every door he opened and every step he took spelled another person standing in his way. He identified the hostile, sighted in his or her center of mass or head and then pulled the trigger. Repeat.

He entered another room and shot the three inhabitants before they could even pull their weapons. During his voyage he had interrogated one of the mercenaries that hadn't died during his initial storm of metal. From his less-than-subtle methods he learned that the politician was also on the run –but he was gaining on him.

Charging through the thin hallway, he looked out of the window and saw a fat, bald man hobbling towards a car. No way that he would let the target escape him now.

He aimed down the sights and squeezed of a single shot –after that, his assault rifle clicked empty. Normally soldiers would be discouraged from trying to take down a HVT that way due to the potential of stray shots killing it. But his training had been…different from normal military training. It was the sole reason that he had been send to Beacon Academy; to do the things that normally couldn't be done. He had seen the students fight and he had to admit that they were capable. If any people in Vale possessed that kind of training and decided to use it to cause anarchy and chaos that would be problematic.

His one shot exited the barrel, smashed through the window, sailed past two barrels and through the target's ankle.

The man collapsed as his legs were suddenly unable to carry his weight and that provided the soldier with the valuable time to exit the building and retrieve him. Reloading his weapon would take too long to do and the six guards standing around the politician were all sporting firearms. He needed to act fast.

He took another few steps to increase his already significant speed and then jumped towards the wall on his right. He placed his feet on the concrete mass and then pushed himself off –and right through a window to his left. It wasn't the best maneuver out there, but it was the fastest he could come up with. There was only one problem: he was now upside down in the air while six criminals were unloading on him.

No problem.

He threw his rifle in the air and distracted two hostiles with it. Then he pulled out his sidearm and opened fire: six shots rang out and six bodies tumbled to the ground; killed by headshots. Quickly grabbing a fresh magazine out of his pocket, he landed on the ground and caught his assault rifle from the air. He smashed his two hands together thus reloading his weapon all the while rolling over his shoulders to dissipate the momentum of a five-meter jump through a window. He brought his MK3 assault rifle up again and swept the area in front of him.

Area clear of hostiles, target secured and a total of two seconds had passed since he had exited the Warehouse.

He was just about to walk up to the HVT and knock him out, when a voice rang out.

"Nice moves there soldier-boy. Why don't you show me your pretty face?"

He immediately turned around to face the new hostile, but the moment he moved he felt a hammer-blow strike his stomach. Struggling to recompose his stance, he glanced around to see who had attacked him. How had he not seen that hostile before? Was she so good at stealthing or was he growing stupid?

The attack that had been dealt to him had knocked the air out of his lungs, but he quickly calmed his muscles and recollected himself. The new enemy was standing at the top of the Warehouse, wielding two strange spheres over her hands. Her hair was very long and swirling behind her back, coloured in black. She wore green leather clothing, concealing her torso but not her legs or arms. Pieces of armoured components were strapped to her joints and a pistol was strapped to a leather boot.

Who was this?

More importantly, what had she hit him with? He hadn't heard a weapon discharge or he would have evaded the projectile fired at him. Could this be an Aura-user? Capable of fighting with the mysterious power that had been classified as 'the manifestation of the soul'? If she was, he was at a serious disadvantage. Aura was one offensive ability to which he could barely defend himself. With the HVT lying writhing on the ground and every cop in the city about to turn up with blazing sirens, he couldn't afford to engage this target now.

Why was she even here?

"Only a coward hides behind a helmet. And a helmet with a polarized visor, nonetheless." She taunted him. Tough luck; he had never seen the use of a taunt and it would only serve to distract her. It had to have something to do with unbalancing a person by making them angry, but that concept was lost to him. But her capabilities were unknown to him and if he wasn't careful, a misfire could kill his target.

Or a well-aimed shot. He didn't know whose side she was one and for all he did know, she was there to assassinate the politician. There was one thing left for him to do in this situation; and that was to grab the man and leave.

"I recognize you, don't I?" She continued. Just keep talking –while she was busy blabbering about, he could slowly move backwards to his target. But one twitch…one involuntary movement from either one of them and this strange encounter would turn-

She smiled and thrust her hands at him, unleashing two glowing projectiles that sped towards him.

- bloody.

He quickly snapped his rifle up and shot the two flaring orbs, but his bullets simply passed through them and they continued on their way. He was standing directly between the hostile and his HVT. Moving away would mean letting the man get killed and that was unacceptable. Staying put meant subjecting himself to unknown enemy fire and that too was a very unpleasant option.

He discarded his rifle and jumped backwards, grabbing the coat of the moaning criminal in the process. He slung the obese bullseye out of the trail of the glowing projectiles and then quickly jumped in the air to avoid getting reduced to ashes of some kind.

They detonated behind him and pelted his armour with pieces of rock and dirt. He felt the internal temperature spike and swore as one of his feet nearly caught fire. Who was this lady?

He rolled to his feet and immediately fired half a magazine of pistol-ammunition at the hostile. She brought the glowing orbs in front of her head and the seven bullets were neatly deflected by her aura.

"Didn't you yet learn? You can't kill a soul! No matter how hard you try…soldier-boy."

Taunting wouldn't work on him. It wouldn't. His mind was clear and focused, no matter what people said to him. Focused!

Feminine shouts disrupted their exchange of fire and he could recognize the girl called Ruby among them. What was team RWBY doing here? He had just escaped from their social pressure and now they were back?

"Friends of yours?" She grinned and jumped down the roof. Her hands glowed and again he was forced to nearly absorb the enemy fire to get the target out of her reach. Sooner or later she would score a direct hit. "Oh who am I kidding…we both know that you don't have any friends, do we? _Operative?"_

For some reason her voice sounded familiar…but he couldn't place her. Neither was it important –nothing was except completing the mission.

He closed in on her and whipped his knife at her head –which she narrowly avoided. The two of them exchanged a furious series of blows all the while the screaming voices of team RWBY became more and more audible.

_Up down left left right up up down down…_ his large black knife kept crashing into her Aura and he couldn't break through it. He detected a few droplets of sweat on her forehead and the corners of her mouth were slightly dropped, but for the rest she kept blocking his moves.

_No time to screw around…move it!_

He sidestepped and brought his arm down on her neck. Then he twisted his hip and displaced her balance –sending her crashing to the ground. Good, that never seemed to fail. Taking the opening, he jumped backwards and threw the High-Valued-Target in the car had been prepared for him. He had a safehouse to reach and an objective to complete –and no idiotic female could stop him from doing so.

Even if that female knew his callsign.

"You can't run from me forever kid!" She yelled after him. The woman had taken no other moves to harm him and he didn't bother to figure out why. He wasn't running from her; in a normal engagement he could take her. Probably. Maybe. He might win and he might lose, but in this particular fight the local forces would catch up with them and complicate manners. He wanted to stay low-profile in Vale, but this strange woman –who had undoubtedly activated the alarm to get to him- was forcing his hand.

No matter. Safehouse first, facing personal problems later.

~0~

"_But Matt! Surely you don't find Faunus to be dull or even worse inferior do you?"_

"_Faunus were pretty interesting when I figured out just what they meant. My family never really cared for the Faunus as a part of general education and the first time I met a Faunus –lovely Lady- I figured out that I couldn't just pull at their fluffy-parts without them thinking I was looking for a long-term relationship. After that, they sort of lost their appeal."_

"_History says otherwise dear boy! The concept of animal people living amongst humans has caused several disturbances throughout history as you are certain to know!"_

"_My dear Oobleck, sometimes I find myself waking up and being very interested in a particular subspecies of Faunus. But after the regular hunt and awkward interaction with members of the opposite race, I simply stop being interested and move on. This we call Wednesday."_

- Five-second conversation between Matt and Oobleck.

~0~

**Post-story babbling: **

**Those familiar with my writing habits will understand that I have the nasty tendency to post chapters late in the night when I should actually be grabbing every sleep I can, seeing as I need to get up rather early. So don't worry! The clock has just hit the 00:15 in the night bit by the time I upload this; no sleep missed!**

…**I sincerely hope. Well, you know the drill. Love it or hate it but please review it :D**

**And if you review but don't want me to comment on it like I normally do, simply tell me so and I will refrain from answering in my Pre-story babbling. Tune in next time or read part one of the Scattered Series: broken demons and angels. I'm totally not advertising or anything, but if you like kick-ass action and awesome gun-whooping, you will also like that story. I think.**

**Until next time!  
**


	7. Chapter 7

**Pre-story babbling: back with another chapter people!**

**SamG17 ´B-13: ****Oh I will…* laughs evilly* I will!**

**Dragonslasher20: ****Just a tiny bit, my friend. Just a small…tiny little…bit.**

**This is just a small babbling it would seem…I guess I can tell you guys a story next chapter?**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

~0~

"_There is nothing to be concerned about, my dear citizens. The Vale Police Department is keeping a proper control over any and all crime syndicates in the districts. We are a coastal city; meaning that we can only be assaulted from one general direction: the east. And let that be the direction where the prodigious Beacon Academy is established! No Grimm, no crime, no reason for panic!"_

- 1st Representative of the Embodiment of Governing, major political faction in Vale, in response to questions about safety breaches.

~0~

14:30 Beacon Dormitories

"_We are disrupting this channel for a special newsflash. A small yet intense firefight has erupted in the area of Warehouse Six, best known for being the cause of several shady misconceptions concerning its activities. The reason for this firefight has yet to be determined, though our reporters have yet to arrive on the site we are certain that the local Police forces will detain the situation without too much trouble."_

"What is 'Warehouse six'?"

"Don't you know, Jaune? It is one of the best known warehouses along the borders of the commercial district, in the city of Vale? "

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Did you…even look up any information regarding Vale?"

"Not really."

Ren sighed and Nora merely giggled at Jaune's ignorance. It wasn't a funny situation, but the mere fact that the blonde didn't know anything about the place he was supposed to be residing in for four consequent years actually inspired some amusement in his team-mates.

It inspired concern in Pyrrha, though. The kid was seemingly untrained, uneducated and the lacking a main bulk of information which could be deemed general knowledge. Perhaps it was just a coincidence or something…nobody could enter Beacon without having gone through at least ONE form of combat training. There was nothing to worry about…he was just being a bit naïve. And that was one of his better qualities.

"What is it known for?" Mister Arc then said. The two childhood friends looked at each other and Nora made a sound which could only be described as 'eesh!', while Ren merely muttered something about it being general knowledge.

"Well?" She said, realizing that Jaune wasn't the only one who might be lacking certain information. "What is the Warehouse known for?"

"For being the cause of several shady misconceptions?" Nora tried, seemingly oblivious of the fact that her answer very closely resembled the previous newscast. Ren sighed and planted his hand on his face.

"Very good…" Pyrrha replied, feeling a smug expression coming up. "Did you even look up information regarding Vale?"

"I get the message…" The boy replied and looked out the window.

"But now I am curious!" Nora yelled. "What is that thingy known for? Tell me tell me tell me!"

Well…attracting her attention to that degree hadn't been her intention…still; she might be able to teach her team something.

"The Warehouse…" She started, "is indeed known for several shady rumors. But not misconceptions; there is nothing misunderstood about the things that are being told about Six. I have heard some pretty accurate descriptions and I can honestly say that I find them to be true."

"But what are they!" Jaune yelled. "What is said about that place?"

Pyrrha raised one eyebrow at her leader's newfound interest, but continued nonetheless. "People say that the term 'Warehouse' is merely a cover-up for what is really going on…which would be criminal activities."

"Crimes?" Ren said, his interest piqued.

"Yes. While the main bulk of Vale wants its citizens to believe that there is nothing to worry about concerning the commercial district, the main usage for that Warehouse is in fact completely unrelated to any form of business. It is occupied by criminals…savages and murderers."

"How can a group of criminals reside in a place like Vale?" Jaune replied. "Doesn't the Police Department take any action?"

"No…" She sighed. "The people using that facility have…diplomatic immunity."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that they can do everything they want and still not be punished for it. They are…above the law…according to the Embodiment of Governing."

"But that is stupid!" Nora yelled. "If they are bad then they should be punished! There is nobody that is above the law!"

"I know!" Pyrrha snapped. She had not meant to get this deep into the subject, but her team needed to know about this one. "It doesn't make sence, but there is nothing we can do about it. If someone down there attacked Warehouse Six' occupants, he or she is in major trouble."

"Criminals won't let something like that slide…" Ren said.

"But we don't know for sure, right? I mean, they could have also been attacking each other right?"

"No." She replied. "They are too organized for that. And seeing as the Warehouse is sometimes used as a safehouse for some of the higher-ups in the district, there is little to no chance of criminals attacking each other. No, this was something else."

Nora was practically hanging at her lips, with giant eyes and her hands folded together.

"How do you know this!" She whispered – something which was very uncommon for the girl, seeing as she was the living embodiment of not-too-subtle.

"Well…" Pyrrha said. She wasn't eager to share the source of her knowledge so soon. "It can practically be concluded from merely watching the city. Try it sometimes?"

They were not buying her story. _You know Jaune, now would be a very good time to-_

"But we are students at Beacon! Surely those people won't dare to hurt us…right?"

"Wrong." Ren said and turned his attention to the all-too-interesting window. "Those people think they can do everything…that's diplomatic immunity for you."

"But…I…" Jaune muttered.

"Oh don't worry!" Pyrrha quickly said, glad that the boy had managed to shift the attention away from her. "You won't have to face them for at least another two years."

"Yeah…" He replied. "No worries…"

"Oh look!" Nora screamed and grabbed the remote to the small television. "It is a cooking show!"

And then the room fell into a silent slumber, occasionally disturbed by the Valkyrie's giggles and small exclamations of "go food!"

~0~

Warehouse Six, ten minutes earlier,

"What is going on?" Weiss yelled as yet another Police car raced past her. "What is happening!"

"People are shooting at each other…" Blake muttered and crossed her arms. "Just when this day was so beautiful…"

"Don't worry about one thing!" Ruby replied. "It is investigation time!"

"Are you serious?" her big sister said, obviously surprised by her statement.

"Very serious!"

"But you can't be for real! There are policemen investigating there! People have been shot; we can't just barge in there."

"Well…we ARE huntresses from Beacon Academy…I mean, we can help them right?"

"Uh…right?" Yang said and ran a hand through her hair. "But we don't even know what is going on, how can we help?"

"By finding out exactly WHAT is going on!" She cheerfully said and used her crescent rose to slice the large lock on the gate off. "Let's go!"

_She was the teamleader; her team had to follow her._

"Ruby! Wait up!" Weiss said and hastily followed her. "You can't just barge in there! It might be dangerous!"

_How cute! The Schnee heiress was worried about her._

Ruby folded her weapon back when she was moving through the yard and briefly wondered why a simple Warehouse –as people would like everyone to believe- was so extensively guarded by fences and armed people. What could possibly be so important?

"Hey sis, I think that the cops won't like it when we barge in here!" Yang yelled after her.

"Won't take long!" She shot back and smiled with satisfaction when the rest of her team followed her in, despite of their concerns.

There were bullet holes _everywhere_. The walls of the old building had been completely perforated and there was barely a window left that wasn't completely shattered. A bit further down the terrain, she could spot two police-cars parked next to each other. What had happened?

Increasing her speed, the redheaded girl ran towards the officers investigating the situation. If they had parked their cars there, they would have found something that interested them. And that meant a difference when compared to the usual patterns. But what had they seen?

There were at least five agents moving around the place; issuing orders, asking questions and investigating possible leads. Two of them were questioning several dark-clothed persons who didn't seem like the honest kind of people.

"And what happened after that?" The first cop asked his subject.

"We ran inside to check what was happening, but by the time we could enter the building we had already discovered three of our allies…downed. One of them was dead and the two remaining ones had just been dumped on top of him…like a sack of potatoes."

'_Weird comparison…'_ Ruby thought and moved past the two questioning officers. She could recognize some of the 'victims'; they were the gatekeepers who had wanted to keep them out.

"Halt!" Someone yelled and immediately three Police-men ran up to her; two were holding handcuffs and the other one had pulled out a stun-baton.

"Wait!" She said and showed them her hands. "I'm not here for trouble, I just want to help!"

"We don't need help from a child, now scram!" The first one said. "Before we throw you out of here. This is a crime-scene!"

"I can see that…" She muttered. The rest of team RWBY ran up to join her and the three cops didn't seem to like it very much.

"What in the-" One started, but Ruby was faster.

"We are students from Beacon Academy; we are here to help." She said.

"Beacon?" One of the men said. "Oh crap, that is where _he_ is from!"

"He is?" his companion with the baton replied. "Is that true? Beacon? In that case we need to let them go."

_Well that was easy. Who was this 'he' that they were talking about?_

"Alright girls!" One of the officers said and pulled out a cigar. "You are free to investigate, but don't touch anything!"

"Yes sir…" Blake muttered and Weiss sighed.

"Deal." She said and crossed her arms. Watching the agents move away, Ruby felt a sense of relief flooding her stomach. She had been right; the first decision she had made hadn't ended in failure and now she could take a proper look around. This Warehouse had been the subject of some pretty nasty rumors for quite a while now.

"So what now?" Yang said.

"Okay!" A male's voice suddenly said, causing the girls to jump with surprise. "Let me bring you up to speed! Couple of minutes ago, somebody triggered the alarm in this place. After we received the message, they started shooting! We have found at least twenty dead inside and six more outside. They have all been killed by headshots …" The officer brought his face closer to Ruby's until he had effectively breached her area of personal space. He only stopped when his head –adorned with black sunglasses- was hovering a mere two centimeters away from hers- "By gunfire…"

He spoke those last two sentences very slowly, like he was thinking about complicated philosophical matters.

"Ehm…thanks?" Ruby said, not knowing exactly how to respond to this unwanted form of attention. The cop simply turned around and walked away, leaving the four girls behind in confusion.

"Well…that was useful." Yang said and took the lead. "So twenty-six dead…I guess that there are several wounded as well. So why would anyone want to shoot a Warehouse up?"

"So many people…" It was just plain wrong for so much lives to be lost in the middle of the day. How could something like that have possibly happened? Who would want to murder all these people…unless… "No idea." She replied and gave it some thought. _Gunfire…gates and armed guards…alarm…many bullet holes…_

Why were there so many bullet holes in the walls and windows wen all the dead had been killed with headshots? That spoke of an uncanny marksmanship…so why the stray fire? Had someone been fighting back…the armed guards had been fighting back! Why were they armed in the first place?

"Something is wrong here…" She said and looked around. Most of the cops had serious or solemn expressions on their faces, meaning that this wasn't just some everyday shooting. _Mourning the dead or disturbed by crime-scene?_

"What did they store here?" Weiss said.

_Unknown cargo…armed guards…fence…important events for Police officers…_

"I need to see one of the survivors!" She said and ran off again. Ignoring the cries of protest from her team-mates, she searched the area until she could see one of the still living men sitting against a car with a blanket around his shoulders.

'_He closely resembles the henchmen from Roman Torchwick…'_ She thought and moved up to the man.

"What do you want!" He bit at her. _Aggressive responds indicates non-traumatic experiences…severe sense of anger due to guilt or feelings of failure…_

"Just wondering whether you survived or not." She friendly said and smiled at him.

"What?"

"On a scale from one to ten, where five is orange and purple means hostile…are you a criminal?"

"Yes! I mean…three!" The man replied, before realizing that he was confused by her statement. "I mean…I…get out of here you stupid brat!"

"Thank you!" She kindly stated and moved away before the weird cop could get a bead on her.

"What was that about?" Yang asked her when she had reunited with her team.

"Well…first I distracted his sub-conscious mind with a simple riddle just to keep the creative part of his brain busy. Then I asked him a blunt question, which would redirect his attention. If he had answered with no without replying to the initial question, he would be lying, because his creative mind had been too busy with formulating a lie –thus skipping the distraction-question."

Weiss and Blake merely stared at her, but Yang was still trying to keep up with her. "But why does his answer mean he is a criminal?"

_Isn´t that obvious?_ Because the blunt question redirects his attention, making it his top-priority. He answered that first and then answered the second question: meaning that he didn't try to access his creative mind to formulate a lie. His first answer was purely a reflex aimed to combat a distraction; and then he proceeded to show me that he hadn't been lying. So he is a criminal."

"Assuming that all this brain-farting is making ANY kind of sense, what does it matter that he is a criminal?" Weiss angrily stated,

"Because criminals shouldn't be occupying a Warehouse." Blake replied.

"Also, why did the police come running if criminals had started shooting each other? And why are they helping them to recover?" Yang added, making it completely useless for Ruby to elaborate any further. "Exactly!" She said instead and slammed her fist into her hand. _Why would she do that?_ "So the police don't realize that these men are criminals, which in turn means that someone somewhere out there is working very hard to keep it that way!"

"This is all crazy-talk!" Weiss yelled. "Just because you played some stupid game with a horribly confused and probably traumatized man doesn't mean that everyone here is a criminal!"

"It doesn't?" The redhead replied, confusion dripping into her voice. "I thought I was pretty clear?"

"Couldn't it be possible that he was just confused like Weiss said? It shouldn't be very nice for a man who just got out of a firefight alive to get strange questions put to him like that. Especially not considering that the person who asked them in the first place, looks like a little girl."

"Hey!"

"It's the truth."

"Didn't you guys pay any attention whatsoever?"

"Not in the way you expect us too, no." Her big sister replied, much to Ruby's annoyance.

"Then don't call me a child until you do! His first response to my appearance was angry. I am not too sure about you guys, but if I had just survived a pretty major fight in which many of my friends had died, I wouldn't sound angry if a 'little girl' approached me. Or not the kind of angry he was."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that he was annoyed with my presence; annoyance at a little girl showing interest? Something is wrong with that!"

"I think you might be over-analyzing things now…" Yang carefully said.

"Am not!"

"Hello girls…" A now-slightly-familiar voice said, nearly causing her heart to skip a beat. "I think that you are being too loud…being loud is very bad! Quit it!"

_Where the hell had he come from? That sunglass-wearing police-man would be the death of her!_

"Sorry officer!" Weiss quickly said with a shy smile. "It won't happen again!"

The man pointed two fingers at his eyes and then at the eyes of everyone in team RWBY. Then he turned around and walked away.

"I think we might have overstayed our welcome…" Blake stated.

"You think?" Yang replied and touched Ruby's shoulder. "Come on sis, take your team out of here!"

"Yeah…I should probably do that…" She answered and took a look at the cops still investigating the site. "Am I the only one who is curious to the 'he' they are talking about?"

"There is a 'he' now?!" Weiss exclaimed. "This is just a shootout where innocent people were harmed. Will you stop playing around and show a little respect!"

_Well…she has a point. A small one. _

Ruby realized that she had been too busy finding out what was going on to show proper respect to the survivors. It was rather embarrassing "Sorry…" She said and looked at her feet. Even though she was certain that something was off here, the situation could wait for a little while longer. _It's not my job to be here…and I hope it never will be._ "But if I am right…and if these guys really are criminals who can operate without trouble…wouldn't that make it slightly less bad?"

"Criminals or not, their deaths were still wrong." Blake silently stated.

She was right. Even if they were criminals, nobody deserved to be killed just like that.

"So…" Weiss said and crossed her arms. Then she sighed and stared at her feet. "How…exactly…when did you learn about…the whole sub-conscious thing?"

She smiled and turned towards the Schnee Heiress, feeling glad that she wasn't too angry with her to be curious. "A little trick I learned a few weeks ago. I still need to work on it and this is the first time I actually used it…but I guess it worked. The man answered."

"It is some tricky mind-reading that you seem to do." Blake said while the redhead led her team away from the Warehouse.

"Perhaps I can explain it sometime later."

"Don't even bother!" Yang jokingly said and wrapped an arm around her. "Let's see if we can't grab something to eat back at Beacon…I believed that there was lunch around three?"

~0~

14:45, Beacon Dormitories.

"I am hungry."

"Dinner is in fifteen minutes, just have patience."

Ever since the room had been properly decorated, time had been a major issue for team LACG. Not only because they had too much of it; they simply didn't know what to do with the large amounts available. It was the very first time that all the teams would be together to dine in the main dining hall and waiting for the remaining fifteen minutes to silently pass was just plain awful. "Can't we just move out and find the hall now instead of potentially getting lost?"

"You already took Grace to find the dining hall." Cho notified her. _Damnit! _She had forgotten about that; somewhere around fifteen minutes ago she had asked her friend to accompany her scouting the school and finding the hall where they would all have to go.

"Just be patient girl, it'll go fine eventually." Said Grace. "I don't know why you are getting so worked up; we're only going to meet the other teams. What's so special about that?"

"I'm not nervous or anything…" She sighed and tried to find the correct words. "It's just that I don't really know what is lying ahead. It's always such a big surprise when it comes to meeting other people, you know?"

"Well…" The demolitions expert started, "…I guess that is the charm about meeting new people: you never know what you get." Then the brown-haired girl turned towards the fourth member on their team; the female known as Alessa. "What do you think?"

The girl shrugged, much to Lisa' annoyance. "You can give a normal answer, you know?" She angrily said, hoping that her silent team-mate would indulge herself in at least _some_ form of social interaction.

But alas; she remained silent and the blonde concluded that it would be useless to force her to speak.

"She'll come around." Grace merely said and lay back on her bed. "What do you make out of the dress code here?" She then asked. Was that aimed at everyone in their room in general, or specifically at her?

"I have to wear a tie." Cho replied, confirming her suspicious about the whole-room thing.

"And also some other clothes…" She said and unconsciously plucked at her brown vest. "It is very stupid: who wears these kinds of clothes anyway? Cho looks like a monkey in a club and these skirts don't make any kind of sense at all."

"It's Jason. And monkeys don't appear in clubs." The boy replied and started to search the desk next to his bed.

"Well, Ozpin saw fit to call our team LACG…as in Lisa, Alessa, _Cho_ and Grace. I think it is safe to say that you have effectively been named Cho now." Her childhood friend said with a faint smug. "But I do know one thing about this attire: I can't wait to blow something up and feel the breeze under my clothes. These don't…ventilate enough."

That managed to create a smile on her face. "Yeah, you and virtually every single boy on Beacon! Did you not notice just how SHORT these skirts are?" If someone sneezed to close to you, the consequences would be quite dramatic."

"Did not think of it that way…" Miss Benti thoughtfully said and then waved with her hand. "Nah, no worries. We'll see it when we get there."

And then the four members of team LACG silently continued their musings, until a sudden fountain of blue sparks caught their attention and the might-be-cop gave a startled cry of pain and quickly jumped up, holding a smoking hand. "Ouch!" He grumbled and shook his wounded hand through the air.

Lisa and Grace took a few seconds to take the image in, looked at each other and promptly burst into laughter. The girls fell on their individual beds and simply stayed there, unable to do anything else but laugh at the sheer stupidity of the Cho electrocuting himself with his own gear.

"Oh ha-ha!" He bit at them and clutched his hand.

Much to everyone's surprise, however, Benti and Mendez weren't the only ones laughing at the male's predicament. Alessa was also giggling at him –even though she wasn't nearly as elated as her team-mates were, she still appeared amused by the sight. It didn't really occur to Cho though; he stayed in a foul mood for the several minutes that they waited for the clock to turn 15:00. Alessa hadn't given off any other signs of life since her 'outburst' of gigglity and neither had the girls attempted to communicate with her again. Eventually –actually completely timed- the clock hit three o'clock and all four of them jumped up from their occupations.

"Dinner time!"

"Socialize time!"

She and Grace simultaneously yelled their individual times and then looked at each other with a hint of confusion.

"Just move already…" The now left-handed boy sighed. "And get it over with."

~0~

Beacon dining hall, 15:02 hours

"I told you that we could make it!" Yang gleefully yelled, ignoring the sudden yelp of surprise that Weiss gave at her loud voice. "It is three o'clock and we made it to the dining hall!"

"Yes…" Her little sister panted. "Need…air…now…"

"We're not the first ones here." Blake said and subtly gestured at the four males sitting at a long table in the upmost left corner.

"That's team…CRDL, right?" Weiss said, looking equally exhausted as the redhead.

"That's them, in all their idiotic nonexistent glory!" She replied and shot an angry glare at the four guys. They didn't see her do that however, as they were all too busy with stuffing their faces with various forms of food,

Which all in all didn't seem like such a bad idea. "So what kind of food does this place serve anyway?" She mused while her little sister was looking for a proper place to sit. "I mean, it is still a few hours from dinner. So that means simple things like coffee and cake, or am I mistaken?"

"I wouldn't know…" Ruby whined. "I just want to eat…"

Why was she so tired? It had been HER idea to run the remaining distance to beacon in order to get back in time for lunch.

Yang quickly searched around and spotted a long line in the west part of the room, located below some windows. Multiple people were busy serving food on platters and she could already see four other people moving towards them.

"Hey! That's JNPR!" She said and considered waving at them. But she stopped herself from doing so when she remembered that her little sister was probably dying of sugar-deficiency. So instead of attracting their attention, Yang decided to simply walk over to them and retrieve some sustenance for the poor girl.

"Where are you going?" Blake asked her, but she simply ignored her and focused on the objective lying ahead.

When she was close enough for the friendly group to notice her, they all turned to face her and Jaune nervously waved at her.

"Hello Yang!" Pyrrha said. "It is good to see your team here too."

_Well of course it was, they were a nice bunch!_

"Nice to see you too!" She replied in earnest and subtly moved past their ranks in the line. "I take it we didn't keep your team-leader hostage for too long?"

"Not at all!" Jaune replied and gestured with his hand, as if to wave her remark away. "My team was still perfectly capable of decorating their room without my help. They are independent like that."

"Uh-huh…" She muttered and looked over her shoulder, where Ruby had just slipped into a cookie-demanding coma and landed with her red-haired little head on Weiss' hand. The resulting chaos nearly caused Blake to fall from her chair, only to be saved by a strategically placed table behind her.

"I wonder what that feels like…" She replied and completed her overtaking maneuver. Now standing directly in front of team JNPR, she quickly ordered several cupcakes and a large cup of sugar with coffee, just like her sister liked best.

"It was nice talking with you!" She smiled at them before taking her leave, moving back to team RWBY with the dinner-plate in her hands.

"And you never watch out where you place your limbs!" Weiss was just telling Ruby. Her scolding the redheaded girl was always a bit hard to watch, considering Yang's protective nature towards anyone she cared for –especially her little sister. But the way that the Schnee Heiress used to perform her little lesson was actually quite humorous.

'_Nobody watches out where they place their limbs…'_ She thought and set the platter down on the table. 'The mere scent of the provided sugar-rich prey was enough to enact a response from the nearly-sleeping-girl and she groggily opened one eye. It sighted in on the cupcakes lying on the platter and Yang could have sworn that the pupil dilated in response to the appearance of said food.

The next thing team RWBY knew, was Ruby savagely consuming the served cupcakes with a speed that could put a feeding Beowolf to shame. Within four second she had completely processed the collection of cupcakes that had been placed for her and then she started on her sugar with coffee.

It wasn't exactly the way that Yang liked her coffee –five pieces of sugar in one cup of coffee was WAY too sweet to her likings- but nothing refreshed the young Rose as much as her daily coffee.

When she was done, she let loose a loud "Aaah!" And knocked the cup down on the table. "That's better. Now, we need to-"

She was interrupted when both Weiss' and Yang's stomachs violently started to rumble.

"-wait until everyone is done with dinner…" She then muttered and her raised hand slowly dropped to the table. "Help yourselves girls!" She said and grabbed her plate.

Yang smiled at the innocence of her team-leader and was just about to walk back to the canteen-people to pick up some food for herself, when she noticed another team entering the room.

'_That has to be team LACG!' _She thought and quickly tried to remember the individual names of the members. _There was the boy with the either serious or severely bored expression…the blonde girl with the camo pants and knee-guards…the girl with long hair and the blindfold…and the girl with pieces of armour strapped to her chest and shoulders._

Technically they were wearing none of their signifying combat clothes right now. They too had been forced to change their appearance to adhere to some sort of dress code…

Now that Yang came to think about it, both team JNPR as team CRDL was wearing their uniforms. Perhaps they simply did so because they felt comfortable in them?

As team LACG walked past the table where RWBY was seated, the blonde started to feel an uncomfortable feeling in her gut. _Why are they already wearing their uniforms? Did we miss something?_

Fine. They had come to the dining hall to socialize and that was EXACTLY what she was going to do. "Excuse me!" She said, succeeding in attracting the attention of the four students.

"Yes?" The girl who was supposed to be their leader said.

" I was wondering why you are wearing your school-uniforms already. The classes don't start until tomorrow, right?"

"That's true…" The brown-haired girl said.

"Our leader found it necessary to make us get used to the clothing." The boy replied without changing his expression as much as an inch. _What was with guys and their emotionless stares? _

"Indeed!" Miss leader said and proudly crossed her arms. _That was actually a rather well-thought idea…if team RWBY were to walk around in a specific dress code then they might as well get used to it from the beginning._

"So you are actually wearing your uniforms prematurely?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well thanks. It sounds like a good idea I guess…" With that, Yang excused herself and made her way to the line-up where Weiss, Blake and Ruby were standing.

"Hey girls?" She said to her team-mates, while simultaneously checking the various assortments of available food. "I think that we might have missed something –"

"The fact that everyone seems to be wearing their uniforms already?" Ruby interrupted her. "Yeah, probably because they either wanted to feel what it felt like or because they mixed the timing up? Seeing as there are two teams wearing it, I can say that at least one of the teams wishes for the outfits to be worn merely because it will help them acclimatize."

"Yeah…" She replied, not really knowing what else to say. _There went her entire line of thought down the drain._ "I was just wondering if you wanted to do something similar."

Blake and Weiss stopped moving at that sentence and were stuck gazing intricately at their food. Yang could have sworn that they had even stopped breathing to hear what was about to come.

"Well…" Ruby said, smiling faintly to signify that she was perfectly aware of her team-mates sudden interest in the mashed potatoes. "I haven't yet considered that…I thought that our team was very capable of getting used to the new dressing code. But you know, food for thought."

"Are you serious?" She replied, hoping that Ruby was just joking around. " You seriously don't consider letting us walk around in those silly little costumes anytime sooner than we need to, right?"

"I actually find them to be pretty cute!" Her sister replied. "But no, only when we need to go to the classes."

That was a big relief to her. And –if she was seeing it correctly- it was also a relief to the rest of the team.

"So no dress code until it is time?" Blake carefully asked.

"Nope!" Ruby responded cheerfully and filled her platter with another half dozen cupcakes. _Seriously, how many of those things could she eat?_

The rest of team RWBY then proceeded to fill their individual plates with drinks and food, before returning to their table. Once they had seated themselves there, the dinner hall was slowly getting to life. Teams JNPR, CRDL and LACG were all chatting and eating and laughing, but none of the teams were actually communicating with _each other_. That needed to change, Yang decided.

"So!" The plotting girl said and turned around to face the four students sitting on the table next to them. "I haven't seen you guys since the Initiation! Did you manage to work things out during the decoration of your dorm-room?"

The four members of team LACG were virtually strangers to her; she might as well get started on them! It was technically not her place to initiate contact with another team, but seeing as they already sort of knew Jaune's team and Cardin Winchester's team seemed _very_ unattractive to her; the only other team left to socialize with was that team.

"That depends on the official meaning of 'work things out'." The blonde girl said. _What was her name again? Lisbeth? Lissete? Something like that…_ "There's not exactly enough room for four people worth of stuff, you know?"

"Depends on who does the 'rooming'. " Her male team-mate added.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

It would seem that Ruby and Weiss weren't the only ones to keep on quarrying about.

"What about you then?" The other girl said, the one without the blindfold. "I heard that you ran into some trouble concerning a professor here?"

At the mention of the professor the team-leader nervously shifted. Yang chose to ignore that, but she knew that Ruby would have picked up on it.

"But where are our manners?" She then said. "We haven't even been properly introduced! My name is Grace…that there is Alessa-" the blindfolded girl raised a hand in her general direction- "This is Cho-"

"Jason." The male corrected her.

"-right, Jason…and this is our team-leader, Lisa."

"Sup?"

"How come we didn't see you guys in the Emerald forest?" Weiss then asked, deciding that she wanted to join the conversation too.

"We were late." The girl known as Lisa replied. "We had a little incident and…it took us a little longer to get to the temple."

"Or what was left of it." Grace grinned and took a sip from a stone mug. "Somebody messed that place up big time."

Ruby smiled and glanced at Weiss, but the pale girl didn't acknowledge her gaze and instead focused on the girl with the blindfold. "Why are you wearing that?" She snapped.

"I don't agree with it; but the tie is merely according to regulations." Cho said.

"I'm not talking to you!" the Schnee angrily stated. The guy looked behind him, spotted his teammate and probably decided that it was her who had attracted the attention and not him.

Alessa didn't reply to her –something which was both very smart and very stupid to do. Smart because she wouldn't say anything that could potentially tick Weiss off more and stupid because she was basically ignoring her.

Lisa looked at her teammate and then at Grace. "It's an inside thing." She replied for the girl and grabbed the sandwich which was lying on her plate.

It occurred to Yang that both Blake and Weiss had communicated with the other team, but that her little sister still hadn't said a thing. That needed to change.

Quickly locating where Ruby's shins were supposed to be under the table, she lashed out with her leg and kicked the girl. Meanwhile she pulled her –talk-to-people-now face and confirmed that her sister actually saw it.

"Ouch! I mean…weapons!" She blurted out and then blushed when seven gazes flew her direction. "I mean…I'm curious to…your…weapons…"

Blake sighed and Weiss smacked herself against her forehead.

"Combat information. I can do with that." Cho said matter-of-factly and then turned to face his teamleader. "Intel for Intel?"

'_What is that supposed to mean?_' Yang thought.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Lisa said.

The Jason or Cho sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose for a few seconds. "Trading information for information?"

'_Oh'_

"Oh. Okay."

Grace snickered and Blake turned towards Yang. "You had to drag us into this didn't you?" She hissed.

"It's a good form of social development for Ruby!" She replied.

"I'll go first." Lisa stated and seemed thoughtful for a moment, probably thinking of the best way to formulate her next few words. "My weapon is the Type-25, a hip-firing rifle with a large blade at its rear. It fires high-explosive rounds which are fed into a small hole at its top; makes for easy reloading."

That actually sounded very cool. "How large is the blade?" Yang asked her.

The girl held her hands about two to three feet apart, causing Ruby to giggle.

"That must be as large as the gun itself!" She squealed happily, no longer looking awkward in the conversation. "How did you position it? Can it move? Where is it attached! Tell me tell me!"

While the blonde and the redhead continued their conversation, Yang merely looked with satisfaction at her little sister's sudden social skills. '_Guns really are a motivational trick.' _She thought and took a bite from her own lunch.

"Alright, I'll bite." Blake said. "My weapon is Gambol Shroud. I don't want to go too deep in its design, but let's just say that it is a sword, a gun and a chained combination of the two."

"Chained?" Cho replied. "Metal combination?"

"Elastics, actually." The dark-haired girl said. "It is a highly elastic cord which can extend to long distances."

"Sounds handy. How did you overcome the switchback mechanics?"

"The cord is rolled over a metal frame which is supported in the hill of the sword; much like a roll of duct-tape. Only this design enables it to come right back into the weapon again. Why, having trouble with switchback yourself?"

_What were those two talking about?_

"Yes." The boy said, still not changing his expression an inch. His short, black hair was just as dark as Blake's was and judging by their manner of speaking, he was interested in the same sort of weapons as she was. It was good to see how team RWBY could get along with both JNPR and LACG without much incident; it would make their education at Beacon way easier.

"What do you use then?" Belladonna asked.

"I use a combination of a dust-fed electric stun-baton and a gauntlet-mounted electric synapse-launcher, close- and medium-range combat respectively."

"A synapse-launcher?" Blake said, suddenly sounding energetic. It looked like her interest was piqued. "Is that where you encounter the mechanics?"

"Yes. Up to now I have used a simple motion-sensitive design, but…" He opened his right hand and showed it to them, revealing some weird-looking scorch marks in the palm. "It has the habit of going off when I want to check on it."

Lisa snickered and Alessa smiled ever so slightly.

"Has that happened this day?" Blake said with a hint of worry. "How much power does it carry?"

While Cho shifted his position to make the conversation a little bit easier for him, Weiss simply kept gazing at the girl wearing a blindfold. It was easy to imagine how it could cause confusion amongst other people, but at least Yang had the decently to not stare at her and wonder in private. Didn't someone teach Weiss that it wasn't nice to stare at people with obvious handicaps?

"Does this mean it is my turn now?" She said, hoping that she could somehow get the attention away from Alessa and let her eat in peace.

"Guess so." Grace said and emptied her mug. "Shoot."

"Funny way of speaking!" She replied. "Seeing as my weapons are shotgun-gauntlets!"

That got her attention alright. "Come again?"

"Ember Celica; the arm mounted gauntlet which can fire a high-powered shot contained in a shotgun shell. It's pretty wicked."

"You can say that." Grace said and glanced at Weiss for a second. Then she focused her attention on Yang again and placed her hands behind her head in a relaxing gesture. "All the way to your elbow?"

"When it is deployed it covers the area from my elbow to the tips of my fingers."

"That makes for some powerful close-combat techniques right?"

"Right!"

"Cool." The brown-haired girl said and took a bite from a muffin.

"So?" Yang replied, slightly frustrated that her conversational partner was stalling time. Just like Ruby, she was very curious about other weapons. But unlike her, she was also interested in the people who wielded them and the way they acted.

Also unlike her little sister, she was actually gifted in the way of asking for information, capable of forming entire sentences. "I think it is your turn to talk."

"So it is. Very well." She swallowed and moved a few inches closer to Yang. "My choice of weapon is Dragon's Foliage. A person might say that it is a flamethrower capable of reaching a distance up to twelve meters. And that person would be right."

A flamethrower? An actual flamethrower? That was…giving off mixed signals. Usually those kinds of weapons were wielded by mad people or psychopaths –this girl didn't seem like either of those two and she wouldn't have been permitted to Beacon had that been the case. But still…using fire to beat your enemy?

'_Don't be a hypocrite Yang…'_

Right.

"And when needed to I can deploy it into a melee weapon capable of dispensing sticky bombs."

"Isn't it a dangerous thing to combine explosives with fire? That sounds like a very bad idea to me, honestly."

Lisa and Ruby were done talking and apparently, they had been listening on in them. "I thought the exact same thing long ago, when we started our combat training. But Grace is…special."

"Special?" Ruby asked. "Does she have a sixth sense for fire or something?"

"Not for fire." Cho said, indicating that Blake and he were also finished with their conversation. "I think explosives."

"I don't actually have a sixth sense." The girl clarified and finished her muffin.

"No, she doesn't." Lisa said and smiled. Then she reared forward as if she wanted to tell a terrible secret. "Some say that Grace sold her soul to the devil in order to receive complete mastery over explosives!"

"What!?" Ruby exclaimed and immediately hid behind her big sister. It was an amusing sight for sure, seeing as even Weiss managed to crack a smile.

"I don't…I didn't sell my soul to the devil. I am just luck." The brunette said and held her hands in the air, hoping that she could calm Ruby down.

"Lucky my ass…" Lisa muttered. Then she reassumed her position on the table and spoke again, this time sounding excited and lifelike.

"It is story-time!" Ruby muttered softly.

"Some time ago we were on an assignment together; walk through a specially-prepared hall rigged with traps."

"It was my graduation assignment." Grace added.

"I'll bet…" Cho muttered and started on his cup of coffee.

"She could ask for a partner from both inside the school and outside the school and she called me for help. So here I am, sitting in my house and talking over the phone, not a single problem or doubt on my head, and the next thing I know I am stuck in a large building that is completely booby-trapped. We weren't the only ones; the rest of her class was also in there."

"A total of seven other people."

"Yes. It was three floors filled to the rim with traps and booby-traps and she managed to get us clear in five minutes! Five! It takes me longer to get out of my bed than that!"

"It is because of her devil-deal…" Ruby muttered.

"I would have gotten to the finish sooner, had _someone_ not almost screwed up." Grace suddenly said, causing her childhood friend to chuckle.

"Three grenades, Grace. I was stuck with my feet in a cord attached to three grenades."

"You could have smelled them lying there…"

"YOU could have done so. You." Then Lisa turned to face team RWBY again and sighed. "And do you know what that crazy girl did? She actually reached out and disarmed the set of primed grenades."

"I received a major scolding for that from our Headmaster…something about not interfering with the traps…"

"You stuck your hands near a set of primed grenades when you had been specifically told to avoid them!" Lisa nearly shouted.

"I disagreed with their instructions. Besides, everything worked out in the end didn't it?"

"It did…" Lisa grumpily agreed.

"And that is the story of a crazed demolitions expert…" Cho muttered and started gathering the empty plates. "Tune in next time…"

"Oh shut it you two."

Back at the table of team CRDL, Yang spotted the bulky guy known as Cardin amusing his teammates very successfully. He was moving around while reaching with his arms in front of him and stumbling against the table, knocking several glasses over. Why was he imitating a blind person?

_Wait a gun-talking minute…_he was making fun of Alessa with her blindfold. _What a cruel thing to do…_

Yang hoped that she was wrong and that the brown-haired boy was merely being very awkward in his attempt to grab a glass of juice, but she knew that she wasn't.

Alessa's head shifted in the general direction of the male-table and sighed. _Had she just seen what Cardin was doing? How did she do that while wearing a blindfold? Seriously, what was up with that!_

"I think lunch-time is nearly over." Ruby stated and then wiped some crumbs off of her clothes. "Shouldn't we-"

The redhead was interrupted as a clear feminine voice cut through the happy atmosphere, sounding oddly muffled by the fact that she was speaking over the speakers.

"Will all first-year students report to college room A to receive their books? I repeat: all first-year students are to report to college room A to retrieve their books."

Time to move out again…

~0~

College room A, 15:35

Ruby had to admit, the entire prospect of using schoolbooks in order to become a huntress wasn't exactly the most enticing one. But seeing as they were going to learn about fighting, they were bound to be filled with awesome images of using awesome techniques of awesomeness?

Right?

"Hurry up Ruby!" Weiss yelled at her, much to her despair.

"Coming!" She replied and quickly increased her pace. As eager to get to the dining hall as she was, Weiss was still more eager to get to the college room. Was she so fond of studying or something? Or was there perhaps something else that attracted her attention like that?

But then she remembered that _she_ was the leader of team RWBY and that _she_ was supposed to call the shots!

Then again; if Weiss was so eager to get to studying in a school, who was she to take that away from her? Besides…the schoolbooks had to be interesting. They simply had to be.

The Schnee girl was leading the team through various halls, seemingly oblivious to the multiple passages and intersections that could lead them to confusion and dead-ends.

'_Where was she all the times that I got lost?' '_Ruby though while she ran after her. Had Weiss somehow managed to memorize the entire lay-out of Beacon Academy? That was impossible!

"Hurry up! I want our team to be the first one to get there!" She yelled and promptly stopped next to a large double set of doors.

"Thank you for allowing us to catch up with you." Yang sarcastically said.

"I'm not!" Weiss replied. "This is it: this is college room A!"

"How do you know?" Ruby said. She was about to declare some form of cheating when the white-haired girl angrily pointed up –at a large sign saying 'College room A' in big, red letters. "Oh…" She muttered and swallowed her words.

"What are we waiting for?" Blake said. "Just open it."

"Patience!" Weiss said and carefully opened the door. "You don't want to rush into a room where your future teachers are sitting!"

"How would you know?" said Ruby and dashed past Weiss. "You said it yourself; we are the first ones in here-"

She placed her foot in a place where there was only air and nearly tilted forwards to fall down the stairs when a hand quickly grabbed her hood and yanked her back. "Watch out!" Weiss said and managed to get her back on her feet. "College room! College! It is steep."

Ruby gulped when she realized that her very first appearance in front of the several professors sitting at a large table would have ended in a painful tumble down a set of stairs. And that Weiss of all people had saved her. _What was up with that?_

She sighed and carefully placed her foot in a place where actual matter resided.

"Is that Ozpin?" Yang whispered to Blake, who then shrugged.

Team RWBY took their place in the room and patiently waited until the rest of the teams arrived. Ruby could see Ozpin, Glynda Goodwitch and Matt sitting at the round table, together with several people she did not recognize.

"Who is the fat dude?" Yang said, causing Weiss to give her a poke with her elbow.

"Be respectful!" She hissed.

By the time teams CRDL, LACG and JNPR had arrived it had gotten rather crowded. Various students were actively talking and whispering with each other, until professor Matt happily waved at someone in the back row. She couldn't see who it was, but Ruby quickly realized that his mere gesture of greeting had managed to silence the entire room.

His face was actually looking rather familiar right now…had she seen him before?

"Now that you are all here…" Headmaster Ozpin stood and started to talk. "There are a few matters which must be discussed. First of all: all of you are obligated to follow each and every one of the courses and given assignments. There are five schooldays here at Beacon on which you _must_ be present at the Academy, unless stated otherwise. You may wear your combat clothing during your free time, but when attentive at theory lessons, you are to wear your school uniform."

Glynda Goodwitch coughed and also stood. "During the weekends you may leave Beacon grounds and visit the city of Vale or other places, provided that you are back in time for the start of a new week. Furthermore, various colleges will be shared between two teachers in order for you to get familiar with different styles and methods. It is expected of students to cope with changes in the climate, as a future huntsman and huntress also must."

"Schedules of coming lessons will he handed to you after this gathering," Ozpin took over, "It is the task of your teamleader to get everyone to their destinations on time."

"We will expect a great many things from you!" The large-build and moustached 'professor' said. "But we will also teach you a great many things in order for you to do so. The coming days will be tough, but we know that you can do it!"

Another man spoke up. He wore strange round glasses and had green messy hair. In one hand he had a mug filled with coffee and the other hand he had clasped behind his back. "New-students-yes-yes-good -most-excellent-point-lessons-Headmaster-history-shared-professor-must-he."

"Uh…what?" Yang muttered and looked at her. Ruby merely shrugged and focused her attention back on the group of professors. The strange collection of garbled words that the man had spoken had created a lot of confusion in the room, but when the next professor rose from his table it immediately grew silent.

"I have no doubts about the coming time: you will all be amazing!" He beamed. "Funny little students, Faunus and human alike, training to protect Vale, it is just gorgeous! Remember to stick by your friends, trust each other and it will be wonderful. This place will become your home."

That last part of their shared speech was actually the best part, concerning Ruby's feelings of doubt and terror. She could feel how different Beacon was compared to Signal…and it was frightening her. But Matt and the fat-man were right: they were capable of doing so many things. It was the sole reason that she had been allowed at Beacon: because Ozpin had found her to be good enough to skip her remaining time at Signal.

"There are four books that you will receive over the course of this week," the Goodwitch continued, "The first one you will need tomorrow at Professor Port's lessons and shall therefore be supplied to you today."

With that, she made a small gesture and a light flickered on, in the corner of the room. A small table became visible with multiple stacks of books collected on it.

"How come we didn't see that until it was pointed out to us?" Yang asked. And she had a point.

"You will each take a book and study chapter One. Tomorrow morning we shall start my colleges!" Professor Porter said. Or rather his moustache said; his mouth never seemed to move seeing as it was completely obscured by the hairy appendage.

The teams all stood and moved towards the small –and seemingly unable to keep bearing the weight- table to pick up their book.

"AMG: Anatomy and Mentality of Grimm…" Weiss said. "A…amusing title for sure."

"It sounds completely boring!" Ruby nearly shouted. How could the words anatomy and mentality even be put in the same sentence as Grimm? It made no sense whatsoever! And what did those words even mean? And seriously, why were these books so large! "They are at least one-hundred and fifty pages long." She groaned and passed a copy to her big sister. "And we are supposed to read an ENTIRE chapter by tomorrow?"

"One chapter isn't even that much you know?" Blake answered. "It could be worse."

Ruby wanted to ask her exactly how it could be worse, but then she remembered that every time she did that, it somehow actually _did_ get worse. So she would have to settle for simply saying that it was the worst already.

"Yes…you are right." She said and grabbed her own copy of the book.

"I vote for returning to our room and starting our study!" Weiss said and pressed the book close to her chest.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Yang replied and started walking towards the exit. "We could go outside and visit Beacon Cliffs! Or we can go to the Grounds and sit in the grass! We could find a cute little terrace and sit there! Why return to our dusty little room?"

"Uh…Yang?" Ruby said. "Have you looked out of the window since we returned to the Academy?"

"No? Why do you ask?" Her big sister replied. _Oh that poor girl…she will be so disappointed._

Blake walked towards the nearest window and pulled at the curtain. "Because of this."

She revealed a window completely covered with water droplets and rain. "Because it has been raining ever since we came back to the dinner hall, that's why."

"What!" The blonde replied and pressed her body against the window. "How can that be? I have felt the sun on my skin the entire time we were getting back to the Academy!"

"Maybe because we were running the entire way there!" Weiss snapped.

_Maybe…probably…_what's the difference?

"So it is raining? So what!" She responded. "We can still enjoy the fresh air-"

"No!" All three of them replied and Yang cringed at the sudden noise.

"Sorry…" She hastily said and smiled. "Guess not everyone is resistant to the cold right?"

Weiss groaned in frustration and Ruby could see how she was resisting the urge to smack the blonde with her book.

"No…" She said and smiled too_. It was so cute how Weiss acted so cold to everyone and at the same time managed to get emotional with everything that happened. Even though the girl might hate her for her personality, Ruby still cared for her. "_Nobody can resist the cold…"

~0~

As the students were leaving one by one, Ozpin looked over the last team to leave. It was amusing to see how some leaders were already trying desperately to live up to their new tasks, while others were still goofing around in order to get used to them. The week had just started; tomorrow morning the first class would begin and then he would see a different side of his students.

"Chapter one of the book? Really?" Matt broke the silence which was hanging in the air since the student's departing. "Couldn't you find something more boring for them to do? Like 'clean your room before you arrive' or 'do not think about awesome weapons until tomorrow'? What a way to ruin a perfectly awesome first day."

"Do not forget this young man!" Professor Port replied. "You may be completely mesmerized by having the honour of teaching in my classes, but that doesn't mean you can just start to decide things!"

"Now you sound like our government…" said Matt. "First of all; I'm not mesmerized by anything –well, lots of things mesmerize me, really." He stopped talking and stared off into the distance with a dreamy expression on his face. After a few seconds of dreaming he returned to the present.

"But the only thing about YOU that mesmerizes me is your moustache. Seriously, how long did it take to grow that thing?" He took another break to tickle Peter's hairy upper lip. The older man huffed at that and brushed the finger away.

"And secondly: who says that you aren't mesmerized by me? We get to share this class, so why don't you savor this moment and accept that it will be ME deciding things?"

Ozpin had to give it to the younger man; even though he was only twenty-three years old, he knew how to outtalk a senior professor. But that was one of the several core-reasons why he had been hired to Beacon in the first place: his ability to talk. And that was what Matt did: he talked and talked and it worked perfectly for him.

"Why…that is…the nerve!" The moustached man said.

"Now you two, don't fight over who gets to teach and how!" Glynda said before it could escalate. "The sole reason for this decision of two teachers in one class is to create changing variables which will present the students with ever-fluctuating scenarios. You, professor Port, have your way of doing things and you…p-professor Matt, will have your own ways."

The two Grimm-studies teachers looked at each and then turned to face Goodwitch. "Yes Miss Glynda…" They both said.

"Now that this is out of the way, I think it is time to decide more important matters." Ozpin spoke up. He glared at the frustratingly strange cup of coffee in Oobleck's hand and resisted the urge to grab it out of the man's hands. "Our…foreign-student has disappeared and I need him back soon. Glynda? Will you go into Vale and find the young man?"

The professor clasped her hands behind her back and straightened her back. "It will be done."

"Good." Then he turned to face Matt. "Also, keep an eye on Ruby Rose, will you?"

"I'm not even going to ask 'why' and simply obey like a good little professor!" The man replied, much to Ozpin's relief. But still…he had a feeling that he didn't even need to know why he was given that particular assignment. Matt seemed to be capable of…sniffing information right out of the air.

"Well then…I will go and make preparations. The rest of you…good luck."

~0~

"_Although Vale is still a perfectly safe-haven from the forces of Grimm, it is far from an actual safe-haven. There are SO many ways to get hurt for a human being here in Vale…take the city of Vale for example: last night I nearly slipped on a banana peel! My father always told me that bananas were an excellent source of Potassium, but look at what happened! Also there are multiple crime factions running about, the Police force is inadequate and people are whispering in the streets that the Grimm will rise again."_

"_Excuse me sir? Who the hell are you?"_

"_Don't worry random citizen zero-one-one! I survived the banana; now I will find out exactly WHERE the coffee is stored in this cute little shop. Off you go, quit disturbing me!"_

- Matt's voyage to recover additional coffee for experimentation, one hour after the Initiation.

~0~

**Post-story babbling: **

**So…despite multiple failed attempts at creating a distorted alternate universe where I could recruit myself to write more fanfictions, I can call this evening quite successful! It is still evening and not midnight by the time I post this, I have finally reached a certain amount of inspiration to keep creating interaction. **

**I think I will end chapters from now on in my post-story babbling with a funny little did-you-know? **

**For example: did you know that: emotions are totally not my strong suit? **

**Hmmm…as for the rest: let me know what you think! About the plot, storytelling, grammar and OC's? Feedback makes me happy and I hunger for reviews!**

**Until next week my dear readers.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Apologies for the delayed update. Sickness combined with multiple buttocks worth of schoolwork have pushed the limits of my body.**

~0~

"_We still require a second professor to teach the module 'Warfare' to our first-year students. I know that he is currently traveling to Beacon Academy, but shouldn't he be here by now?"_

"_Don't worry about it Miss Goodwitch. The new professor has to travel a great distance to get to Vale…the least we could do is respect his voyage and await his arrival."_

"_Two things prevent me from' not worrying', sir. The first one concerns the start of said module without a teacher to give it and the second one concerns his references…or more specific, one particular reference."_

"_Do tell me. This man is recommended by several institutes and military organizations. What could possibly undermine his competence?"_

"_He is recommended by Professor Matt, sir."_

"…_ah."_

- Conversation between Headmaster Ozpin and Glynda Goodwitch, several hours after Initiation.

~0~

Day three, 16:27

"Anatomy and Mentality of Grimm, yeah right!" She angrily said and closed the book again. "Chapter One mentions ZERO things about Grimm."

"It is the first chapter. Cut the book some slack will you…" Blake replied from her bed_. Of course she would say that! All she did was read books, the likes of which might be…questionable._

"It is a schoolbook… those are boring by rule…" Her redheaded teamleader stated from above. _What was up with her! Why couldn't she simply accept the fact that she was in a place where everybody was striving to be as mature as possible? _

Ruby frustrated her immensely. The girl was immature, lazy and very, _very_ childish! What on earth had possessed Ozpin to pick _her_ to be the leader of team RWBY? Everyone BUT her would have been a better choice than that...so why? "Can't you act like a proper student for _one second? _Schoolbooks aren't neccesarily boring!"

"You are the one who started complaining, Weiss." The girl replied. _Technically spoken, she was right. But the only thing she had said was that the title was misleading concerning its contents. Ruby had then proceeded to add up to that._ "Why can't _you_ act like a proper student?"

Oh the nerve of that kid! Ruby knew just how to tick her off. "I merely stated that the title is misleading. You went ahead and insulted every single schoolbook ever!"

"It's not like you are a schoolbook; why does that concern you?"

Yang groaned loudly and kicked a pillow off her bed, taking her by surprise. "Can't you two just stop arguing for a FEW MINUTES?!"

She sounded sincerely angry…perhaps it would be a good choice to remain silent for a while. It wouldn't do them any good if their bedroom would suddenly be set alight…

"I didn't do anything!" Ruby angrily said and Weiss ignored the urge to say the same thing. It would only cause more fighting and their team couldn't handle that.

"I think I figured it out." Blake then said a minute later. "The first few chapters cover the human body as a whole…then it moves on to the Grimm section. You see? Chapter one starts off with a whole speech about utilizing your organs and systems to the max."

"I guess that's important too…" The blonde girl replied and jumped down to retrieve her pillow. "But that's still a very boring subject to read through!"

"It is interesting…"

"Is it?" Yang said. "If I asked you for the significance of the 'spleen', what would you say?"

"The spleen is a vital organ in the human body, you dope!" Weiss let herself be pulled right into yet another meaningless conversation with the girl, but something about her team compelled her to give her reply…to make the girls realize that they were wrong as often as they might be right. The reason for that was…unknown. "That is why it is significant!"

"But what does the spleen do? Fibrocartilaginous structures are also key structures of your body, but they sound more like a nasty disease than an organ." Blake interfered. "I for one never really learned the significance of the human body as detailed as this book puts it. This is an excellent moment to increase your knowledge."

"Fibro-whatnow?" Blake, these things only appear in chapter three!"

"I merely gave an example."

"And I merely want to chew through chapter one for tomorrow!"

"Yang, the spleen is only briefly mentioned at the end of chapter One." Ruby softly said.

"So?"

"So…how did you get to the end of the chapter that fast?'

"I…maybe I am a fast reader!"

The redhead sighed and closed her book. Then she dropped down to the floor and used Blake's bed to raise her body in the air. "Can I look at your book?"

And Weiss watched with amusement as the younger girl revealed to her big sister that her book had a piece of tape stuck to the pages, effectively sticking at least twenty pages together. And Yang had missed that somehow. "Are you kidding me?! I still need to read through half the chapter? That is complete b-"

The blonde stopped herself in midsentence and looked at her sister with a strange expression. "-eh…bonkers."

_Bonkers? What kind of sentence used the word 'bonkers' like that? It was almost as if she had wanted to say something else._

"Erythrocytes." Blake said without taking her eyes off her book."

"Gesuntheit." Ruby replied and jumped off her bed to return to her own.

"No, erythrocytes. Red blood cells…the spleen is responsible in part for creating new red blood cells."

"Well there you go!" Said Weiss. "Spleen solved, chapter one done."

"But it is only mentioned at the last few pages! We still need to read the rest!"

Damn. That was true.

"Well…" Blake started. "Better get busy then. Because I'm almost done."

That was just plain cheating!

~0~

The one student in Beacon Academy to not be divided into a team and that was the one she had to track down. Finding Ruby Rose in the district had been one thing, but this? She didn't even know what the boy had been wearing when he disappeared; seeing as she had yet to figure out why he had left in the first place! He had failed to appear at College Room A to pick up his first book and listen to the speech and neither had he visited the dining hall. So in order to figure out exactly when he had vanished, she needed to get a few things settled…which wouldn't work very well, seeing as she had no idea what compelled the student in question.

Come to think of it, there were very few things she _did_ know about him. She knew that he had been send to Beacon Academy to function as reinforcements, but why the Headmaster had seen fit to call for him was beyond her. Even though she trusted Ozpin's judgment one-hundred percent –perhaps ninety percent- the reasoning behind some of his actions were just lost on her. From what she had gathered on the kid, he was a soldier coming from an organization somewhere along the borders of Vale. His official 'designation' was Two-Oxford, but what that mean was still unknown. What kind of person had a 'designation' anyways? Nobody had seen fit to tell her his name and –judging by certain conversations she had overheard- the only person who was likely to actually know his name would be…well, Ozpin.

And she didn't want to think 'Matt'; because there was no way that he could possibly know something that she didn't. It just wouldn't happen.

So what did she know about him? From what she had gathered on him, the student knew how to survive, set traps and even work with advanced pieces of weaponry. His strategic mind would be highly developed, seeing as he managed to clear the Emerald Forest without a team.

That also meant that his social skills were _severely_ lacking; seeing as he quite deliberately avoided eye-contact throughout the entire Initiation and then proceeded to completely ignore the two major events that would spell interaction for him. However, that could also be attributed to his sudden disappearance. But every student had been told about the upcoming events, so why would he risk missing them by venturing into the city? He was not on Beacon grounds, that much was obvious. Seeing as he was most likely not looking for fun in the city, he had to be there for other reasons.

So when she was moving down the Commercial district in order to investigate the most recent string of events, the first thing that caught her attention was the commotion concerning Warehouse six. It was on the news; the building had been caught in some sort of firefight and it had cost more than two dozen people their lives. Glynda really hoped that it wasn't her target –murdering so many people, criminals or not, simply couldn't be attributed to a future huntsman.

And there was completely ZERO reason for the boy to go on a killing-spree in the city. No, it was impossible. It couldn't have been him.

Her scroll bussed in her pocket and she quickly grabbed the device. "Yes sir?" She answered the call belonging to Ozpin.

"I have communicated with…a mutual friend. He informed us about the current whereabouts of your target. I shall send the coordinates. "

Ozpin had the coordinates? Then why had he found it necessary to send her out in the first place? Wait a minute…a mutual friend? Somebody had figured out where the boy was when only the professors at Beacon knew that he was gone in the first place? Just what was Ozpin doing? "Yes sir." She replied nonetheless and awaited the string of numbers that would lead her to her objective. It would appear that the boy had moved northwards for some reason; he was currently ten miles distance away from the commercial district.

But at least she knew where to go now. And when she came to think about it, it would only make sense for Ozpin to have a general idea of where the boy was. He was the man who had found out that he was gone and his network was rather large. Plus he had told her to retrieve him, not specifically to locate him. Either way, one of his sources would have probably told him where to find the kid.

And it was up to her to find him. If only it wasn't raining that hard…

~0~

"So chapter one of the book concerning the monsters we are supposed to fight does not concern the monsters we are supposed to fight…am I the only one who has a problem with this?" Ren said.

"It's not that bad, Ren." Pyrrha replied and flipped the page. "It is only one chapter we need to read, after all."

"School generally orders the students to read one paragraph instead of chapter…" Jaune said miserably as he was struggling to take the information in. "And what is a 'spleen'?"

"I think that the professor went a bit all out when he told us to do this." Ren said, ignoring his blond teammate. "I mean seriously, an entire chapter? For one lesson"

"Introductionary lesson!" Nora yelled in an attempt to get her opinion in. "We should introduce ourselves, not read!"

"I agree." Jaune then said. "It is bad enough that we are going to have multiple professors teaching our subjects, but having to read an entire chapter is just too much."

"Too much or not too much, we still need to do so." Pyrrha said and started on another page. Even though she felt that their anger at the amount of work they needed to do was more than justified, they weren't the teachers. They were the students and they needed to do what they were told. "So let's all just continue working our way through the chapter, yes?"

And they did, for another two minutes. Then Ren frowned and gestured at Jaune. "Did you get to the part with the difference between physiology and anatomy yet? What is up with that?"

"Simple. Anatomy is with an 'a' and…the other one is not."

"I don't think that is quite right, Jaune."

"But it counts nonetheless."

"I think not!" Nora said and appeared behind the boy. Then she giggled and pointed at something in his book. "That is red!"

"Yes Nora…it is." Jaune sighed. "Do you know what else it is? The human vermiform appendix. Do you know what it does?"

"The appendix? That thing got mentioned on the first pages…why are you still there? You should have at least reached the part about the natural symbiosis." Ren said with a hint of surprise. And she had to give it to him, he was right. She had worked her way through half of the chapter and –according to Ren- so had he. Which meant that Jaune was woefully lagging behind on their reading schedule.

"Just forget about the terms and keep on reading." Pyrrha then said. "The professor merely wants us to prepare for the next lesson, not study for finals or anything."

"Finals are bad…" Nora muttered.

"Yes they are. Just come down from the ceiling and continue reading the book, yes Nora?"

"Okay Ren!"

"Seriously! What does the apendix do?"

"_Appendix."_ She said. "It has a function in…maintaining body flora…or something. It doesn't go into great detail though."

"Flora is plants…what kind of plant could possibly live in the human body?" Jaune replied with a hint of panic in his voice. It was obvious that she was the only one on the team who had covered basic anatomy in her education and even then it was hard to follow the subjects covered in the first chapter of the book. It started out with a long speech on how the human body could be trained to reach optimal capacity and how Grimm had already accomplished that. Then it followed with a basic covering of live in general, cells and bacteria and the like. After that it would continue on to a few bodily examples of biology including several organs and forms of bacteria.

"There are no plants on the human body; the term 'flora' is used to mention the many millions of bacteria that are stored in our bodies, which help break down food and perform other tasks in the body."

And then Jaune's expression turned from confusion to pure horror.

"WHAT!" He yelled and started inspecting himself. It was an amusing sight to witness him checking out his body, but the sheer amount of knowledge that her team –with him specifically- was missing, was worrisome.

"I would say that they are _inside_ your body." Ren said.

"That's what she said!"

"Not now Nora…"

"Didn't you guys cover basic biology during your training?" Pyrrha asked her team, hoping that they wouldn't say what she thought they would say.

"I covered the body in general, with balance and breathing combined with extensive aura training." Ren said, confirming her suspicions that every Academy had different ways of training their students concerning general knowledge."

"Biology stinks!" The other girl loudly yelled. The message hidden there was obvious.

"Yeah…what they said…" Jaune softly added. It was strange that he didn't even want to start on his pre-beacon knowledge. Perhaps he was just…shy?

"Anyways…" She carefully said. "If we can finish this up today, we'll have the evening free to prepare for tomorrow."

"I like that idea!" Jaune added. "Then we can use the evening to do other things, like finding our way to the college rooms in advance before we get lost or something like that. Beacon is huge, after all. And I am never, ever getting lost in this place again."

It sounded like he had yet to get over his awkward encounter with the professor.

~0~

16:02, outskirts of Commercial District

Headmaster Ozpin had been so kind as to send a dropship to pick her up and drop her off at the coordinates, after which she would be free to use the ship to return to beacon with the student. She had to give it to the boy, he was very hard to find. Had the headmaster not given her the numbers, she could have searched all day before eventually finding him. But now that she had arrived at his position, there would be no more hiding.

It was strange however, that Ozpin would personally ask her to find a Student who had forgotten about the time to do something else. Every person attending the Academy was well disciplined and nobody would simply forget about more important matters to simply go on a sight-seeing tour. And –judging by the boy's actions in the Emerald forest- neither would he. So why had Ozpin thought it necessary to send her? Perhaps the student in question could shed some light on the matter.

Glynda shook her head softly and marched up to the small shed bordering a ring of trees. It was a well-chosen position for someone who wanted to hide. Why would this boy choose this place to head to? And how had he even reached this small isolated area? Had he been traveling ever since he left Beacon Cliffs? That had to be the case.

Even though the surrounding area was completely devoid of life, she still pocketed her Wand and kept it at the ready. There would be no saying what could loom in a desolated place like this….be it Grimm or Man. She softly pushed her glasses up and walked up to the ruined frame where there had once been a door. There were no signs of life anywhere inside of the shed, but this had to be the place.

The Professor looked over her shoulder once more and frowned. What was that supposed to be? What was that there, on the grass?

Crouching near the blackened grass, the blonde ran her hand across the burned vegetation. _Were those scorch marks?_ But those kind of burns only appeared when a certain type of aircraft landed…or took off. Had there been recent activity near this place? But the Police Department used helicopters in their operations…someone had been using high-grade vehicles in the immediate vicinity and it wasn't Beacon. So who was it?

She frowned and turned back to the wooden shed –only to be nearly startled. Very nearly.

"There you are." She said and crossed her arms. "I do hope you realize that you are in trouble young man?"

A dark figure stood in the door-opening, wearing the same dark outfit that the student had been wearing during the Initiation. No doubts about it, this was him. She could see her own face reflected in his helmet, appearing horribly disfigured where the visor was damaged. Rain was pouring down from the sky and even though she had been spared the cold weather by her dropship, she was still getting very cold just standing there. And the fact that the student wasn't responding to her in any way wasn't helping.

"Come on then." She said and gestured to the Academy dropship. "Time to start explaining."

He complied without a word and moved towards the ship. She noticed that he was carrying the same black assault weapon on his back that he had used in the Emerald Forest. This wasn't a simple sightseeing trip for him; he had been expecting trouble. Perhaps he had even gotten it...

She took up a position in front of him and signaled the pilot that she could take off again. Then she grabbed her scroll and send the headmaster a message:

'_The student is secured. Could you please enlighten me of any more information that you might have?_

_Goodwitch.'_

And that would have to do for now. In the meantime, she could get her information out of the student.

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" She asked him. Normally the prospect of her anger was enough to get anyone to talk, but this kid stayed silent. That frustrated her. But what frustrated her more was the fact that she was talking to a faceless person; if they were to communicate, he would have to follow her rules. "And take that helmet off."

Again he complied without a word and reached for the black piece of equipment on his head. As he removed his helmet, she took notice of his behaviour. He was being silent; indicating that he knew it was no use thinking of any form of excuses. But he didn't bear the stance of someone in shame; he still believed that his actions were justified. What those actions _were_ was still unknown. But they would get there.

He placed his helmet on the seat next to him and looked at her with the same emotionless expression that she had seen from him before. It was…mildly annoying…that she couldn't get a proper signal from his face. There wasn't any form of guilt, shame or even anger that he had been 'caught'. So what did he think?

"Now…what were you doing on the borders of the Commercial district in a rundown shed in the middle of a rainstorm?"

"Waiting."

"Waiting for what?"

"Exfil."

Exfil? Did he mean exfiltration? Had he been on a mission? "And who would supply you with this 'exfil'?"

The boy gestured with his head towards the interior of the dropship and Glynda frowned. Had he seriously been waiting on a Beacon ship to come and get him out of his troubles? That was completely irresponsible! What if Ozpin hadn't noticed his disappearance? What if she hadn't been able to locate him? "That kind of attitude is _not_ what we are looking for in future huntsmen and huntresses! Your actions could have caused unnecessary harm to yourself! What were you even doing that you would need exfil?"

"Completing my objective, ma'am."

So a mission indeed. Who had sent him on that mission? "And what would that objective be?"

"Classified as need-to-know, ma'am."

~0~

16:45, Beacon dormitories.

"I'm done!" Weiss yelled victoriously and closed her book with a loud slam. "Finally, my first homework session has been completed."

"Well done…you read the first chapter of your new book…" Blake replied without taking her eyes off her own book. The entertaining one, not the school one. Why she was the only one who actually enjoyed reading was beyond her. But who was she to doubt the ways of the entertainment of her teammates?

"That took you long enough." Ruby added dryly from on top of her bunk-bed. "I finished five minutes ago."

"Three minutes ago!" Yang corrected her, before Weiss could say anything. "And that was after I finished the chapter myself."

"Oh shut up you!" The redhead yelled and aimed her pillow at her big sister. That might be a problem, seeing as Yang's bed was right on top of hers. If Ruby were to aim…and fire…and miss…then it would most likely cost her the book. That was unacceptable.

"Please be careful…" She pleaded her teamleader and hoped that the girl would be sensible enough to withhold her fire.

Thankfully she was. Ruby looked at her and then back at Yang. Back and forth. "Damn it…" She muttered and placed her pillow back. "One of these days you won't be reading and then I will throw a pillow at my big sister!"

"Fat chance." Weiss muttered and started digging through her stuff. "Now then…we are all done for tonight, what should we do?"

"I don't know, I kind of figured that it would take the entire evening to prepare for tomorrow!" Yang replied and turned to face her sister. "What else do we need to do tomorrow?"

"Let's see…" said Ruby. She grabbed their schedule for the coming week and flipped a few pages. "Tomorrow we have…Grimm studies…and I guess that's it. It will be a calm day tomorrow…perhaps we can even visit Vale again?"

"Sounds like an idea to me!" Yang cheerfully said and shifted her position on the bed, according to the creaks. "How long will Grimm studies take?"

"Uhm…ninety minutes."

What?

"What!" Weiss vocalized her thoughts. "We have ninety minutes of class? Like, nonstop without a break?"

"Seems a bit extreme to me…" Blake carefully said, "But I can imagine that there are many things the professor wants to teach us. Perhaps we won't even get to the full ninety minutes?"

Judging by the sudden silence coming from the Schnee heiress, she had made a point.

"That's tomorrow. Let's just enjoy the rest of this day and worry about what will come…later. Okay?" Yang tried to soothe their worries. "After those ninety minutes we can relax and take the day off!"

"You do realize that the schedule can be changed at will by the professors, right?" Ruby added.

"You are such a downer."

"Am not! I am merely being realistic!"

The two sisters really knew how to press each other's buttons. But at the very least they provided the dorm –and each other- with a viable amount of entertainment, which was much needed seeing as rain was pouring out of the sky and classes were officially about to start. Blake didn't really care much for her immediate environment –yet- but she still felt slightly more comfortable knowing that her teammates actually cared for each other. Because Weiss might act like she did, but that didn't take away from the fact that she too cared for the people around her. She just had to fully realize it.

"I wonder what the others are planning on doing…" The white-haired girl mused.

"Why is that?" She replied. Ruby and Yang stopped 'fighting' with each other and turned to look at the new conversation.

"The way I look at it, we can either spend the evening faffing about in our room or looking up the other students and hang around with them."

"More people more fun." Yang added.

"Exactly!"

It was strange to hear Weiss Schnee of all people talking about spending time with other students…unless there was some other reason lying behind her words.

Blake made a mental node to ask Ruby about the actual reasons for her teammate's desire to meet the other students again and merely nodded in approval. Her teamleader might act childish at times, but when it came to reading facial expressions and people _in general_ she had no match. It was strange to see a person with such a gift use it so nonchalantly and infrequently…but that was the charm behind it, probably.

"So you propose that we leave our room and find other students to play with?" Ruby asked.

"If you put it like that…yes."

The siblings looked at each other and then shrugged. "Sure, why not?" The blonde said, making it official.

Team RWBY would socialize…again. But that was alright; it was important for Blake to at least get to know everybody around. It would prevent confrontations and make certain operations easier. To be on good terms with people wasn't something she would go out of her way for to reach –but neither would she let an opportunity to strengthen bonds go like that. Team JNPR was trustworthy and team LACG seemed nice enough. Still, they would take their weapons with them. It never helped to be careful and perhaps they would get to show them off. If it was up to Ruby –which it was, seeing as she was the teamleader- then they WOULD show off their weapons.

So when Ruby knocked on the opposite door a minute later, it didn't come as a surprise to her that the team seemed to agree without as much as a second thought.

"Socializing is a good team activity and making friends is always a good thing!" Jaune agreed with the redhead's reasoning. Why every teamleader seemed bend on getting to know other people was beyond her ability to explain. Being on good terms was one thing, but this? This was just... plain people-people talk.

"Good!" Ruby said happily and cleared the way for JNPR to exit their dorms. It appeared that Ren, Pyrrha and Nora had been listening in on the conversation by the door –judging by the way they were literary _stacked_ on top of each other, leaning against the wall.

"What…" Weiss muttered as she beheld the trio losing their balance and crashing to the ground.

"Don't mention it…" Jaune replied with a nervous laugh. "So where are we going?"

"Picking up team LACG and then finding some place to…hang out..." The Rose replied, making it very obvious that she had wanted to use the term 'crash instead of 'hang out' and changed her mind at the last minute.

"Other team? I don't even know them!" Nora squealed from the ground. "That will be fun!"

"Yes…fun." Ren said reassuring and helped the short-haired girl up. "But behave, alright? I don't want to hear stories of you forcing people into a piggyback-ride."

"Ren, three times that happened!" She said and pouted. "I am a big girl!"

Three times forcing someone to be a piggyback-ride was four times too much, but that didn't seem to occur to anyone to tell Nora. That or they were all afraid that they would be the next 'piggy'.

"Let's get going then." Pyrrha said, bringing the awkwardness to a manageable level. "I want to meet the other team as well."

As it turned out, team LACG's room wasn't that far from their own. A few doors further down the hallway they already hit the jackpot.

In the form of screaming.

"What is going on in there?" Yang asked.

"No idea, but I think someone is getting murdered in there!" Ruby replied with a certain dose of fear in her voice.

"Why is it getting warm?" Weiss demanded when she walked up to the door. "Seriously, don't these guys know that a radiator running on turbo is a BAD idea?"

Blake didn't even know that a radiator _had_ a turbo-option, so perhaps team LACG was ignorant of that as well. But something else caught her attention –a strange clattering, similar to raindrops hitting a wooden roof. "I thought that the rain didn't get this loud? Or is it hitting the window?"

"Why is it that we can hear it raining louder than them screaming bloody murder?" Ren asked.

"Why are we still standing here talking about people screaming?" Weiss said in turn.

"Because it wouldn't be very nice to disrespect someone's privacy by barging in on them screaming?" Ruby calmly suggested.

Jaune knocked gently on the door. Once. Twice. No response.

"I don't think they heard us?" Blake said and as if she had been given a direct command, Nora stepped forward and slammed her fists on the door. "Open open open!" She yelled. There was no way _that_ could have gone unheard –it wouldn't have come as a surprise to her if some professor a few floors down had opened his or her door on confusion.

But still nobody opened the door. The screams went on and this time, Yang was losing her patience.

"I don't like being ignored…" She grumbled and stepped up to the door. She fumbled around with the knob for a few seconds, before tearing at the door and shattering the lock. "That's how you do it!" She said, oblivious to the fact that the doors of Beacon dormitories were supposed to open inwards, not outwards. But it didn't really matter that she didn't think about that, seeing as she was immediately pelted by an intense heat and the pungent stench of smoke.

Yang yelped in surprise and quickly stepped back, allowing everyone else to enjoy the glorious sensation of being roasted. Nora screamed with fear and hid behind her childhood friend, while the rest had the common sense to simply move backwards even more. The faint screaming was becoming audible now and it became apparent that the occupants of the room weren't very happy.

"What the hell is going on in there!" Yang yelled and Blake carefully made her way over to the opening. The blonde had completely torn the door out of its frame; it was barely hanging on one hinge and the rest of the room didn't look much better.

It was on fire.

"You had to mess with it! You couldn't let it go!"

"Stop drop and roll! Roll you big idiot!"

The teamleader of LACG was busy smacking flames with a pair of pants and the blindfolded girl was hiding on top of the large cabinet, desperately trying to keep out of reach of the large flames. The boy known as Cho had just dropped down on the floor when the brown-haired demolitions expert told him to and was starting to roll around, trying to extinguish his flaming pants and tie. At least someone had had the sense to open the window –albeit opened might have been a major understatement. The entire glass pane, together with at least five inches tone son each side, had been blown out of the wall and allowed the smoke to exit without murdering anyone.

"What did you guys do?" Ruby yelled in turn. Then she did the one thing that Blake had never expected her to do: she turned to Weiss. "Help them!" She pleaded the heiress, seemingly thinking that some of her newfound friends were going to burn to death.

"I am already on it!" The girl replied, sounding just a bit less frantic than her teamleader. having already prepared her weapon. "Just get out of the way!"

Ruby frantically jumped to the side and Weiss unleashed her dust-powered rapier. "Heads up!" She yelled and bathed the room with the freezing properties of her weapon. It didn't completely extinguish the flames for some reason, but the sudden drop in temperature was enough to drastically reduce them, in turn allowing the rest of teams RWBY and JNPR to run inside and help beat down the remaining ones.

"Careful!" Lisa yelled, fighting an epic duel with her flaming bed.

"Yeah I should probably mention that this stuff sticks…" Grace said while bathing her male teammate in a blue blanket. "Now, don't choke to death please."

"Got it." The muffled voice from the seared Cho said from underneath the smothering piece of fabric.

With so many people in the small room, man made a major victory against fire by beating it to death. And as soon as all the flames had died down, the situation seemed to calm down as well.

But before anyone could ask the burning question of what had transpired, Lisa turned towards the blanket that was her teammate on the ground and snapped at him. "Why didn't you drop down immediately? Everyone does so when on fire!"

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect my teamleader to set me on fire that suddenly." The boy replied.

"That was an accident!"

"Then stop blaming me!"

"Guys guys… chill!" Grace gently said, before realizing that Weiss' Myrtenaster had left considerable ice fragments spread throughout the room. Then she craped her throat and looked down. "Or relax, that is allowed too."

"What happened in here?" Blake asked the team, hoping that everyone was alright.

"I had a small accident." Lisa started and looked at Alessa, still sitting on top of the cabinet. "You can come down now, the fire is gone."

"Small?" Weiss said and placed her hands on her hips. "You call this small? You nearly burned the school down!"

"As I said, small…" The blonde replied with a hint of anger.

"I shouldn't have left my weapon lying around where everybody could touch it." The demolitions expert said as she drew the blanket away from Cho. His pants were scorched and his ridiculous tie had completely burned down, but otherwise he was fine.

Except for one eyebrow; half of it had been burned away. . "Anyone could have touched it…but it had to be _you_ of all people."

"What are you trying to say?" Lisa said in turn.

"That you are more like your brother than you let on."

That hit home. A dark blush crept on her cheeks and she opened her mouth to deliver a mean comeback, but Grace quickly interfered. "Like I said, everybody could have done so."

Then she turned to face the two teams occupying the hallway and room and smiled. "Thanks for the help, that could have gone south pretty fast."

"What is that blanket?" Pyrrha replied.

"It is a little trinket I keep with me to treat burn wounds. You wouldn't believe how many people get hurt from burning themselves.

Blake looked from the flamethrower lying on the ground, to the burned roof and floor, to the singed form of Jason Cho. "No, I wouldn't."

"So let me get this straight," Ren said, "You had a flamethrower as a weapon…which she touched…and accidentally set fire to the room."

Team LACG looked at each other and then shrugged. "About the gist of it…" Lisa said. It was…amusing…that they would yell and blame each other, but the moment anyone inquired about _something_ that involved any one of them, they would stand united without hesitation.

Jaune looked at Ruby with a pleading expression. "Team LACG, I presume?" He then carefully said.

"Yes…" The redhead said. Now that she had recovered from her initial surprise and fear, she was getting back some of her pre-incident enthusiasm. "I thought we could all…you know…get to know each other?"

Nora looked from the seared body of the Cho to the burned-out floor, until her gaze eventually lingered on the blown out section of the wall. "Sounds like fun!" She then yelled, much to Blake's satisfaction. First looks were very important to people and even though this team didn't make a really good one, they all ignored each other's shortcomings.

Still panting from the hot experience, Cho managed to get to his feet. His face didn't look as bored as it usually did, but he still managed to keep it to a professional expression. He looked down at his ruined uniform and sighed. "I'm going to need better pants…"

Lisa sighed and Grace raised one of her eyebrows at him. Yang realized that his pants had effectively been reduced to a half-ash half-fabric hybrid, utterly revealing his dark underwear. She wasn't the only one though; as she burst into a giggling fit, Ruby too found it hard to keep herself under control.

"That is the same kind of underwear that you wear!" Nora pointed and yelled at Ren. Whether it was physically possible or not, the boy turned as red as Ruby's hair and muttered for his teammate to 'shut up'.

Weiss didn't seem so entertained by the situation. "Can we all just calm down and act like normal human beings!" She angrily yelled.

"Yeah, we're ready to move out I guess…" Pyrrha said.

"Sure, we're coming." Lisa shrugged.

"I will still need some pants." The poor Cho said, thereby confirming their combined coming social interaction.

"Yeah…good luck with that…" Grace said and looked at Alessa. "You coming too?"

The girl shrugged and got up from her bed. "Lead the way." Ren told Ruby, much to her joy. "Alright teams!" She cheerfully said and aimed down the hall. "There are many places that need discovering and we will find the best one! Move out!"

Cho shook his head and took a peek at the nearest closet. "Might want to move ahead without me…this won't take a minute."

~0~

16:24 Beacon grounds, Goodwitch' office.

Classified as need to know basis…there was a term she hadn't heard in a while. Even though she had been asking the boy several questions since that dubious reply, she still couldn't forget about the way he said it. So quick and without hesitation…almost like he was used to behaving like a government spook. There were so many little pieces and she simply couldn't manage to stick them together without creating several new questions. The only thing that was left was to continue asking him what he had done, even if his answers were growing ever more evasive. They had been at it continuously ever since she had found him and she felt like she wasn't getting any closer.

"I will ask you again. Tell me what transpired since you left Beacon grounds."

"I was sent on an active operation."

"And then?"

"The mission was a success."

"But what happened! What 'mission' could be more important than retrieving your first book and orders for the coming schooldays?"

"All of them."

He was just not taking this seriously. Either he was completely messing with her, or he was just so incredibly thick that he didn't realize the importance of his education –however long that would last if he kept his behaviour up. "And who send you on this mission?"

"Classified."

She ignored the urge to smack him with her cane and thought of the information that he had supplied her with. Someone had sent him on a mission that had ended with a success. He had been waiting on Beacon exfil, meaning that he had been expecting someone to come get him.

"And did you consider the consequences for your coming schooldays?"

"No."

"Shouldn't you have done so?"

"No."

This was getting her nowhere. It was so blatantly obvious that the student wasn't serious in his attempts to become a huntsman that it hurt to even talk to him. Why was he even here? No team, no motivation and no will to work usually compromised students long before they could attend the long-term Academies. Ozpin had brought him over as…what, extra labor? Reinforcements for some upcoming fight? An exchange student? Well she wouldn't have any of it. If it was up to her, this clown would be sent home as soon as possible.

As if the person who the ultimate decision _was_ up to heard her thinking, the door opened and revealed none other than headmaster Ozpin. "Hello Miss Goodwitch." He said, holding his ever-familiar cup of coffee.

"Ozpin, sir." She said. "I hope that you might have some information on this matter. The way I see it, this student abandoned important Beacon duties to scuttle off on some 'mission' of sorts. He is blatantly refusing to speak in detail of his venture and admits to not having his education prioritized."

The silver-haired man turned to face the young student. "Is this true?"

"Sir. Yes sir." The boy said, causing the headmaster to sigh.

"I see. What to do about this?" He then asked. It was an obvious rhetorical question, but the student replied nonetheless. "Supply nonessential information to satisfy the curiosity, sir."

"Now that you mention it, I have been contacted. An agreement has been made in case your absence at school was to be noticed. It was obvious that they didn't expect any of us to…pay attention."

What was Ozpin talking about? Who were they?

"Sir?"

The headmaster turned to face her and she snapped to attention. "Miss Goodwitch…the situation is becoming a tad sticky. I cannot explain much of it, but let's just say that our dear student here has…an active schedule."

"An active schedule?"

"As such. He might miss important Beacon activities such as colleges and classes, but it will all serve a major…educational goal."

"Said goal being?"

"Being educational." He turned to face the boy and promptly dismissed him. The student picked up his gear, saluted and left the room. Odd for a student to remain so calm in the presence of two people who essentially ran the school…and then proceed to salute his headmaster. Just what kind of arrangement did Ozpin have with the boy?

"I can see how a lack of information might be disturbing to some. In that manner, I can say that the boy's 'mission' did indeed include a visit to Warehouse six."

Taking note of how the man spoke the word 'indeed' as if he was merely confirming her suspicions, she tried to think of a way to make it all fit together. It would come eventually, but for now she needed a bit of rest.

"Of course such a visit cannot be described properly, so the firefight might have transpired before OR after his appearance there?" She said, already guessing why Ozpin had told her such a vital piece of information while the Student had been trying so hard to conceal it.

"Indeed Glynda. Indeed. Would you mind some coffee?"

"Some tea would be nice."

"Let's see if Bartholomew won't join us."

"Then you will need lots of coffee sir…"

~0~

17:01 main dining hall

As it turned out, the main dining hall was still the best choice concerning group activities. It was large enough to accommodate multiple teams at once and they wouldn't disturb anyone with their loud noises. It was a good thing for Ruby that they had saved team LACG from possibly burning to death, seeing as they now had something to talk about.

"So what happened now, really?" Pyrrha asked them. "You don't just set fire to a room; something's got to happen for that."

"Oh man…" Lisa sighed. "You know when after these great accidents, people always say 'gee it sure looked like a good idea at the time'? Well, it actually did look like a good idea at the time. Grace had placed her weapon on the floor saying stuff like 'she needs cleaning' and, well…"

"I don't get it?" Jaune interrupted. "If you need to shower, why place your weapon on the ground? Why not keep it locked?"

"I think you think of the wrong 'she'. "Ruby quietly told him.

"Yes," Grace added, "I wanted to clean Dragon's Foliage."

"Oh."

"And when she was busy collecting her cleaning thingies, I had the brilliant idea of trying to help her. So I walked up to it and…kind of…tried to displace it for convenience."

"You touched the weapon nobody was supposed to touch." Blake dryly added.

"And that causes burns…" Ruby whispered, earning a poke from her sister.

"As soon as I touched it, a plume of liquid fire erupted and set half the room ablaze. The floor, my bed, Cho, and even the ceiling for whatever reason."

Ruby took notice of how the girl mentioned her teammate being on fire halfway the list instead of making him her priority. _She keeps acting angry around him, he is annoyed by her actions, she acts like he isn't important at all, causing severe cases of cracks inside the team-cohesion._ Lisa and Cho probably didn't get along very well…but why?

"The rest is history." Grace finished. "So how was your day?"

_Face completely relaxed, no visible clenched muscles, faint presence of smile…forced change of subject or actual feelings of unimportance towards subject?_

"Nothing special…" Yang waved and placed her feet on the table. "Just studying and boring things. But then we had the idea of coming to get other people and turn this evening into a party!"

"Yeah…my idea, remember?" Weiss angrily said and crossed her arms. The girl was still so hostile against virtually everyone she met…why was that? Throughout the days spend together, she had only changed a little bit towards her team –as displayed by her acceptance of their ideas and presence- but the rest of her attitude was still so…cold.

It would be easy for her to find out exactly just _why_ the Schnee heiress was so mean to everyone, but she didn't actually want to find out. It would be too tough on both of them. Perhaps there was still a chance of making Weiss open up to her friends the natural way. After all, everybody had to get used to their new surroundings, right?

"It wasn't that entertaining with us. " Ren stated. "It's all just studying and trying to make sense of the strange things mentioned."

"Spleen?" She asked him.

"Spleen!" Jaune replied a bit louder than what he probably had planned.

Wait a scythe-swinging minute…thingies? Did Lisa seriously say 'thingies'? That creepily resembled the manner of speech of someone else she knew…Professor Matt? Why did the teamleader of LACG speak like the Professor? Probably just a coincidence…

"I knew it…I just knew it…" Grace muttered.

"It is just a coincidence…the spleen is a nothing more than an organ depicted in chapter one of the book." Blake added.

Yeah…sure…the spleen was the coincidence that she was thinking of.

"So. Tomorrow is the big day." Ren said. "First day of school." l

"I'm not nervous!" his teammate loudly exclaimed.

"Nobody said you were, Nora." Pyrrha told her.

"Things aside…I don't think we have properly met yet ladies!" Jaune suddenly said and appeared next to the females from team LACG. "My name is Jaune Arc…and you?"

Grace smiled vaguely at his intrusion, actually looking not as uncomfortable as she should. This in direct contrast to Miss Mendez, whose eyebrows narrowed in a frustrated expression –which flew completely past Jaune.

"I'm Grace." The demolitions expert said.

"And I'm Lisa. These are Cho and Alessa."

Pyrrha reached over and waved her hand. "Hello! My name is Pyrrha."

"I'm Ren."

"Ooh! Ooh! I want to say my name!"

"Go ahead."

"I! Am Nora."

That was nice. JNPR and LACG were actually getting along…although Cho was being awfully quiet.

"Are you alright?" She asked the boy. His expression didn't change and he didn't move, but his next words still managed to cause a spastic giggle in her, Nora and Yang simultaneously. And she could have sworn that Blake quickly covered her mouth in an attempt to disguise her own amusement.

"I had just gotten used to the tie."

Apparently the tie was a subject that had been brought up repeatedly, judging by the reactions from his teammates. Grace grinned and patted him on his shoulder, while Lisa pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Alessa still tried to remain as distanced from the teams as possible, but even her slight shift in body signaled amusement.

"I'm sure that the professors will see fit to outfit you with another one…why, you could even ask Professor Matt for one of his-"

"No!" Half of team LACG suddenly yelled, with Lisa even raising her hands as if the gesture alone might stop Ruby from speaking her mind. _Interesting…Alessa, Lisa and Grace all seemed to have knowledge about Matt's behaviour…pre-beacon or simply because of interaction? Cho looks seemingly confused._

"What?" Yang asked and Pyrrha looked questioningly at her teamleader.

"Excuse me?" Ruby carefully asked, hoping that she wouldn't enact another extreme response like that. The brunette and the blonde looked at each and in a quick exchange of nonverbal communication, she could see that they were measuring what they would say, who would say it and how much information would be shared.

"The professor doesn't take kindly to people touching his bowties!" Grace said in her very first display of emotions. The ever-so-relaxed girl appeared disturbed –even if it was so minor that only one person might see it- and a little bit scared.

"And he only has bowties…no regular ties…it wouldn't work!" Lisa nervously added. "Or so I've heard."

That little act managed to simultaneously shut up teams RWBY and JNPR at the same time.

"Bowties?" Ren eventually asked them after ten seconds of silence. "Seriously?"

"Yes. Bowties." Lisa said, looking very awkward. "Different subject now please?"

That sounds like sincere fear…"I think I have heard the Professor speak about a bowtie before…" Ruby softly said. _That was the most serious sentence concerning a piece of fashion she had ever spoken._

"Come to think about it…remember when we were lost aboard the airship?" Yang said, much to her annoyance.

"Thanks for mentioning that one!" She angrily hissed, but her big sister ignored that.

"Yeah well, we only managed to find our way out in the first place because there was a bowtie lying on the correct path."

"But wasn't that merely by chance?"

"It doesn't matter, it happened."

"But what does that have to do with Professor Matt not wanting to share a bowtie…and _them_ knowing about his habits?" Weiss said with a face set to angry and a body set to conflict.

"Let's just say that we met the guy sometime before we got to Beacon." Cho said.

Ruby smiled when she realized what was going on and decided to drop the subject for now. "So now that we are all here…and actually acquaintanced to each other…we can decide on what to do with our spare time!" She said, hoping for the first time since arriving on Beacon that she would be successful in attracting the attention.

"What do you have in mind?" Pyrrha said, perhaps realizing what she was doing and trying to help her.

"There aren't exactly many things to do around here…" Blake told her.

"According to Beacon's schedule…main dinner is around six-thirty. Meaning that we have roughly one hour to do whatever it is that you want to do." Said Ren.

One hour was plenty of time. A lot of things could be done in one hour of time.

"We could spend the time scouting around the terrain, getting familiar with the surroundings?"

"That is a lovely idea!" Nora yelled and practically jumped on top of her friend. "We could pick flowers and climb trees and roll down hills!"

"Yeah…good idea…" Jaune said and laughed uncomfortably. "But I won't be carrying the flowers."

"I like it." Blake told them. "Plain and simple, just strolling through the gardens."

"It is a lovely idea indeed!" Pyrrha replied with a smile. "There should indeed be multiple beautiful gardens scattered throughout the grounds."

"That's settled then." Lisa said. "To the gardens?"

"Good!" Ruby decided. "Let's move then!"

A venture from the dorms to the dining hall wasn't adventurous enough for the twelve students, but a daring venture from the dining hall to the gardens adorning the grounds? That might just do it.

~0~

17:53, professor Matt's office.

Little Ruby Rose…an enigma to solve…a mystery to unravel.

A little girl training to be a huntress in order to beat monsters threatening the world…an amusing thought for sure. But there were so many questions to answer, so many riddles to solve. One of them was little Miss Rose´s skill concerning the dislodging of the intangible…her ability to discern the variables of the mind…her reading of emotions.

From his first glance at her impassive face he had realized what she could do. The untold potential locked in her little silver eyes. Very few people could gaze at the faces of people and determine what they were feeling, let alone thinking. But that was what she did and what she had done before; Ruby had been reading him before he had felt the stupid desire to call her out on that. If only he had let her continue…who knows what she might have seen.

On the other hand, it was probably the best for both of them that he had disrupted her. He had no desire to face the blatant consequences of his facial expressions, as latent as they would be. And he seriously doubted whether the girl actually understood what she was doing. Sure, she understood that she could read emotions all right, but the actual consequences were way beyond her ability to comprehend. If she possessed the vocabulary AND the intelligence to match her skill, then she would still need the cognitive ability to actually translate what she saw and give it meaning.

You could copy DNA, but if you have absolutely no way of decoding it then you might as well not have the DNA at all. Same thing went with Ruby: if she couldn't understand the subtle changes in the human body that she detected, she might as well not be able to see them at all.

Not everybody had knowledge of him- or herself and some people might even become unstable if they ever had to face their true feelings. Ruby could potentially make a mistake and drive someone mad with the knowledge of what that person truly felt like. And that, he was sure of, was what Headmaster Ozpin truly worried about. Ruby was, in more ways than one, a diamond in the rough. It was up to Ozpin to forge her into a warrior, while it would be up to him to make her responsible.

And make her shine.

Not everybody could simply gaze into the mind of a fellow human…and not everybody could talk like he did. If he could make the girl realize what she could do and actually provide her with a means to express it…her potential would become unlimited.

And it would solve the problem of team RWBY's continues clashes.

~0~

20:13, dormitories of team LACG

Yes, the little walk through the park in the backyard of Beacon Academy had been a delight. Getting to know your fellow student so well and so peacefully was a privilege not everyone could enjoy. It was, however, very stressing for people not enjoying social interaction. Immediately after the trip in the garden, the teams had withdrawn to the main dining hall to have supper. Alessa had seemed very troubled during the evening and by the time they were done eating, the girl had already returned to their dorms.

Or so Grace had initially thought. Comforted by the thought that the blindfolded girl would be safe in her room with Lisa and Cho, she had taken a small detour to the ladies-room. But when she had returned, she found the room occupied by them and them only.

And Alessa was nowhere to be found. Thinking that the girl might have gotten lost, Grace was about to slam the door open and ask the two where she had gone. But upon hearing the conversation going on inside there, she stayed her hand and waited to see if they would notice her standing there.

"I am sorry for setting fire to you…it wasn't my intention I just…tried to be a helpful leader and assist Grace…I never wanted to hurt you."

"You didn't seem like that."

"I know…I was just so angry for that comment about my brother. We haven't really gotten to know each other outside of Beacon Academy, but I thought that you knew enough about the situation to say that."

"Just the mere family thing…but even then, I shouldn't have said it."

"So we're good?"

"We're good…but can you elaborate on why your brother infuriates you so?"

"I guess…it started…"

Grace smiled and softly closed the door. It would be the best for both of them to simply sit and relax together…the day had been stressful for all of them. Besides; she had something else to do.

What did she know about Alessa, anyways? She was reclusive and shy, yet cold and completely unwilling to socialize with people. So judging by the intense day that she had just spend, she would most likely want to be alone. So the demolitions expert walked throughout the hallway until she finally reached the place where she would be if she wanted to be alone; the upper balcony.

She didn't know anything about her…hell; Alessa hadn't even talked enough for her voice to be familiar to her. So there was no reason for her to show up at the balcony merely based on empirical evidence….yet something compelled Grace to go there. It kind of fell in the same category 'funny feeling' as what she felt when she was about to disarm and explosive trap.

That usually ended well, so why not this time?

So when she walked down the hallway hoping that her feelings of confidence were well-placed, she couldn't help but feel a faint sense of victory when there actually _was_ standing someone on the balcony. It was a good sign that her sixth sense hadn't failed her yet- go team-cohesion.

She walked up to the opening and immediately felt a cold wind cut through her clothes. The Beacon uniform wasn't exactly made to resist the outdoor weather and they did nothing to stop the freezing winds that dominated the air. Even though it had stopped raining, the sky was still very chilly and her uniform consisted of stockings, a skirt, a jacket and a thin shirt. Grace had initially planned to wear her blast-resistant armoured components along with it, but a faint sense of common had told her that it wouldn't be a good idea to tempt fate that soon.

If only she had ignored that sense this time. "Hey." She said and walked up to the figure sitting there. The long, white with blue hair identified her as Alessa. "What are you doing here all alone?"

No response. She kind of figured that, but a part of her still hoped that her teammate would open her mouth for a change. Ever since they had teamed up, the only words that Alessa had spoken could be counted on one hand. No matter; she wouldn't give up just yet. "Aren't you cold?"

The girl shifted and her head lowered. "No…" She said.

Grace didn't dare breathe, lest she accidentally chase her words away. Wait…it is commonly accepted to respond to words. She needed to talk again!

"Why not?"

"I like the cold. It feels…better than warm places."

Not exactly an answer, but still something new had been found out. "Is that why you took refuge during the fire?"

"…yes."

That made sense…besides from the obvious fact that everybody on the world took refuge from fire when needed to. "So…why are you all the way out here?"

She took a few moments to answer, but she did nonetheless. "It is…calm out here. The cold and quiet gives me time to rest."

"Relax rest or sleep rest?"

"It's all the same."

The very first person she had ever met that preferred cold above warm. This really was one strange girl. It occurred to Grace that this might very well be the first time that Alessa was really alone ever since she had arrived on Beacon. Some people tended to like being alone a few moments during the day. The fact that the girl had sought her refuge up at the balcony instead of sticking with her team proved that she might want to be alone for a while.

"Do you mind me being here or would you rather be alone?"

The girl shrugged and raised her head again. "You can stay if you want to."

Right…was that a yes or a no? Well screw it, it's not like she didn't ask her.

Grace sat down next to the blindfolded girl, taking care to keep at least two feet distance between them just in case she got uncomfortable. Personal space seemed to be important to people. "So how did you like the day?"

That went less smooth than she wanted it to go. It must be hard for her to ultimately have to hear all the questions converge on her blindfold. It was just such a striking part of her appearance…Grace really hoped that her teammate wouldn't be bothered by all the side-interest –making it look like a weak attempt to talk about a less important subject.

"Stressful…busy…annoying."

She was still responding to her…cool. "But useful in getting to know your peers?"

"I guess."

"Is it hard for you that people always ask for your blindfold?"

This was more like her ground now. Asking the blunt questions without dancing around them.

"Sometimes, yes. It seems that people always go for the looks…which leaves me at a…disadvantage."

There, the major point had been thrown out and now the dikes had been breached. The words started to flow like they always did and the conversation turned into an real one after that.

"Not everyone is so judgmental."

"Cardin Winchester is."

"You saw that?"

"I think everyone did."

"It might just have been a…coincidence?"

"Do you really think so?"

"No…I was just hoping that I might not have to incinerate another guy before this week would be over."

"That won't be necessary…yet."

"So what do you think about the rest of the teams? JNPR? RWBY? Lisa and Cho?"

"I met Lisa a few times a long time back. Cho seems…okay, I guess."

"And the rest?"

The two of them stayed like that for at least another fifteen minutes, slowly and carefully talking with each other out all kinds of unimportant things like opinions and events, steadily getting a bit familiar with the other, or –in Grace's case- chilled to the bone from the freezing wind.

~0~

"_Aura and dust: humanity's greatest weapons against the Grimm horde. In my time I have used both in various conflicts, getting to know as much about them as possible. As it turns out, Dust can be experimented upon to increase its viability and compatibility. Anything else? Pick a random word in the dictionary and you will find some way to make the Dust apply to it. Everything can happen to it, making it a great source and outcome of many experiments."_

~0~

**Sickness, school and even my birthday couldn't stop me from posting this one. I know that I promised to tell a story, and you will get a good story. Next time.**

**A thank you to my followers and favers! You are great!**

**As for the rest of you lot: reviews! I wuv them! I need them…**

**And until the next chapter!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Dragonslasher: ****why thank you :) As for your other statement…perhaps they are…perhaps not :P**

**Tuutje07: ****I'm glad that you like my story.**

**And two ****guests!**** I have the feeling that both of them are the same one, judging by the writing style and continuation in reviews. So! Major point: the POV's. It is a bit hard to keep writing from one Point of view while being an all-knowing writer. Yes that is a term. I don't want to keep using the words 'she' and 'he' so often, because a lack of variation can cause a read to turn boring very quickly. I do take your point though; I am still learning how to utilize a good POV section. **

**The other parts? I can only say 'thank you very much! :D' and move on.**

_~0~_

"_So yes, experiments with Dust. I am not the only person interested in the many, many quantities of the compound. There is a reason that there are so many shops getting robbed of their supplies, which kind of turned into a personal act. It is widely known that I enjoy messing around with large amounts of volatile stuff and the fact that a criminal gang just went about and stole –they STOLE!- so much Dust from the city of Vale that it keeps getting harder and harder for me to acquire it…is just an insult to my person. If they rob one more Dust store, I will personally step in. That being said, I heard that Weiss Schnee has large amounts of Dust…hmmm…options…"_

~0~

RWBY dormitories, 19:58

Normally when the clock hit eight, the last thing that would be on her mind was bedtime. Eight o'clock meant a lot of different things, but not sleep. It might mean another late snack, or perhaps a chance to get into a book that she had promised herself she would read, but never sleep.

Then again, things went differently on Beacon Academy. The day had been filled to the brink with the most strange occurrences; the Initiation, firing a big-ass turret, having interaction with Weiss Schnee, effectively meeting a dozen new people and then some more small events pressed in-between that all. So when the clock hit eight, the first thing that was on her mind was sleeping. A well-deserved nap until it was time to work again would be excellent…but it was not meant to be.

"Ruby! Hold up!"

How did Yang know that she was going to leave to dreamland? And more importantly, how had she found her?

"We still have some time to do things, get down here!"

"No!" She muttered and turned her back to the room. All she wanted to do now was sleep…and nothing would disturb her.

The scroll on her bed buzzed and the vibrations moved all the way to her pillow, but she ignored that too. Not even a message on her device would keep her from sleeping. She had had her fill of social interaction with people and it was time that she spend some time for herself; thus the sleeping.

"Ruby Rose, get your redheaded scythe-swinging butt down here now!"

Damn…when her big sister used her full name and two adjectives in one sentence, there would be some serious stuff going down.

She groaned and groggily rose from her bed. "So tired…what does big sis want?"

"I want to know why you are going to bed so early. And more importantly: what did you do with our books?"

Books…books…quite possibly the ones she had hidden a minute before the rest of her team had arrived?

"No idea…"

By the time team RWBY had reached their dorms, she had been the first one to actually enter the room. With the rest of the group in hot pursuit, the one thing that she could have done to enable her to sleep in peace was hiding the books before they could start another discussion about them. Weiss had seemed nervous about the upcoming colleges and it would be very likely that she would want to rehearse some of the subjects.

"Don't you 'no idea' me! Blake and Weiss might think that they left the things in the dining hall, but I know you and I know that you had something to do with this. We can do this the easy way…or the hard way!"

Easy way would be tickling the little sister until she squealed…hard way would be tickling the little sister until she squealed louder…not exactly the best of odds. "I just want to sleep Yang…they will talk and be loud and interrupt sleepy-time!"

Yang smiled and pulled herself on her bed. "If you tell me where you hid the books then I will make sure nobody will be loud this evening…do we have a deal?"

"If you promise me that you won't tell anyone…then yes."

"I promise."

She smiled and Yang patted her on her head. Of course she wouldn't tell anyone…that was just how her big sister worked. Always looking out for her, always thinking of what was best for her. "If you go to the wall on the right and push against the white tile –yes, like that- you will find them eventually."

Beacon Academy was big and wonderful and full of secrets. One such secret was the beautiful garden in the back where they had walked around before eventually returning to the tower where they needed to be. Another one was the fact that every single bedroom –like the one they were sleeping in- had a hidden bathroom stored away compactly to the side. If one were to simply…push the right buttons…the wall could potentially slide away and reveal another room with a shower, a water-closet and a large bath. Just what a lady needed.

"Holy…how did you find this?" Yang called with surprise when the wall slid away and revealed a bathroom even larger than the main sleeping room.

"Sometimes a single tile in a wall of tiles can look suspicious."

"It didn't!"

"It did to me."

"And the books?"

"Stored behind the sink. If you will excuse me my dear sister, I have need for sleep." She laid back in her bed and covered herself with her blanket again. Major problem solved, books returned before anyone important would miss them, time for sleep-

"They were not there!" A loud voice yelled, nearly causing her a heart attack. Who in their right mind would shout like that? Why would anyone want to make so much noise when people were trying to sleep?

And why anyone sound like Weiss Schnee?

"No schoolbooks at the dining hall…" Another, calmer voice said. "Any luck here?"

Ruby shot upright in her bed again and took a look at the newcomers. Weiss and Blake were back…without the books –she would be scared if they actually had found books there. She threw a pleading gaze at her big sister, hoping that the situation could be resolved without any more yelling. Perhaps hiding the schoolbooks of her teammates hadn't been the smartest of her ideas…but it was successful in causing a little bit of rest before the storm would arrive…next thing on her list; talking.

"Oh…it turns out that there actually _was_ a secret room next to our beds…and Ruby and I accidentally left them there without coming back for them. Heheh…whoops?"

_Yang, you are an angel._

"A secret room?" Blake asked and entered, looking to her right as she realized exactly just what they were talking about. "Seriously?"

"You found a secret room next to our dormitories?" Weiss said and worked her way after Blake. "So what! All I care about is why you left OUR schoolbooks in a room that we did NOT know about without telling us!"

_Uh-oh…this was turning very bad…if only she could somehow distract Weiss from the obvious trouble that she was about to unearth…wait one…idea!_

"It's a bathroom, Weiss…" She said and cringed while she did so, hoping that the girl would fall for the very obvious distraction and that her vanity would be stronger than her curiosity…or desire to shout at her.

"A bathroom? With an actual working bath?" She said incuriously, having seemingly completely forgotten about the whole someone-hid-my-book thing. It was curious how eager Weiss was to prove that she was superior to everyone around her, while at the same time fulfilling every stereotype of a spoiled girl that man had ever come up with as effectively as Grace could sell her soul to the devil. Double standards? "That is amazing! Tomorrow, after a day of hard work, I can finally clean myself properly!"

Yang winked at her and faked a yawn. "I don't know about you ladies, but I'm spent. How about crashing for tonight?"

"Good idea!" She replied, having caught up to the idea of her big sister. "I want to sleep badly…please be quiet if you want to stay awake?"

"Sure." Blake said, being happy enough with a working bathroom and the retrieval of her schoolbook. "Good night."

She smiled faintly and turned her back to the inhabitants, already feeling the warm embrace of dreamland coming to take her away. Sometimes ideas can have terrible results…but with the right help, even that can be subverted.

It all worked out in the end, didn't it?"

~0~

Hangar bay 5, 21:05

'_At 14:02 I reached the target building, after having scouted the area eliminated two hostiles. There were multiple groups of the criminal association in question, confirming your suspicions. Their armaments consisted of various simple melee weapons, enabling me to keep the element of surprise.'_

Huntress Glynda Goodwitch was a thorn in his mission objectives. Her meddlesome behaviour and needs to exert her academic professionalism would eventually result in a critical snag; leading to failure. That was unacceptable. At least Headmaster Ozpin possessed the common sense to let him work without disturbances… as far as that was possible, at least.

'_After having dispatched of the two groups of criminals, an unknown source tripped the alarm however, compromising my stealth and causing me to go loud. At 14:16 I cleared the complex and intercepted the target as he was about to evacuate. I eliminated the guards and prepared to take the prisoner when an unknown tango initiated hostilities. _

Operating within an Academy that trained huntresses and huntsman was not the most ideal condition. Students and Professors without proper clearance would get in his way and important people could even compromise his goals. The entire reason for his transfer to Beacon was need-to-know basis even for him –something which hadn't bothered him until very recently. Why go through all the secrecy and trouble to get him in a spot on Beacon when he couldn't even perform at max capacity?

'_I managed to clear the complex with the HVT in the escape vehicle after a brief skirmish with the female contact. I brought him to the drop-off coordinates and ensured the exchange of the valuable package into Oxford hands. Then I moved to secondary position to await exfiltration.' _

He sighed and thought of a way to formulate his last few sentences. Having spent the rest of the evening since being dismissed from the Headmaster's Ozpin alternating between writing his mission report and taking care of his equipment, he eventually found himself done with the latter. A month of three back he might have felt less negative towards writing the summarizing report of his latest mission, but recently he was having some trouble finding the correct words to describe his actions. Whether that was because they were getting vaguer or not was up to debate, but in the end the result was the same.

Thinking back on exactly how the day had transpired for him, he thought about the strange hostile he had encountered during the exfiltration of Warehouse six and how she had acted like she knew him. Fighting an aura-user on hostile grounds was one fight that he did not want to prolong so he hadn't gathered much intel on her.

'_Beacon Professor Goodwitch arrived, taking me back to the Academy. The huntress attempted to gain Intel, but it failed. Then she moved me to Headmaster position and had Ozpin communicate with me –before releasing me without giving the situation a second thought. Mission successful, request for update on Headmaster status. Alert: Goodwitch information about secondary exfil coordinates suggests source leak or spies.'_

He wasn't exactly fond of the way he had to use when writing the mission reports. He wasn't some kind of writer creating a fictional story about girls fighting evil; he was a soldier. A mission report had to be short and to the point: mission successful, enemy casualties taken and engaged unknown hostile. That was good enough for him, but not for his superiors. They wanted him to write an extensive report formulated from his point of view.

The scroll buzzed as it received a message. Looks like the people on the other line had been waiting eagerly for him to report.

'_To Two-Oxford: Goodwitch interference lies with us. We provided the coordinates of secondary exfil to enable her to find you; your disappearance caused quite the fuzz. Continue as planned, but be advised: Ozpin will from now on act as a replacement superior officer when no missions are available. You are to treat his orders as if they were given by one of us. Proceed with caution.'_

That was not the best message he had ever received. Headmaster Ozpin was now his superior officer? Why was that? He had been sent to beacon for unknown reasons and now the man in charge of the school was also in charge of him? This was becoming troublesome.

But at least it couldn't get any worse.

His scroll buzzed again and a new message appeared. He sighed softly and opened it.

´_Ps: your 'fellow students' might grow suspicious of your position here. You are hereby ordered to attend at least THREE colleges a week. The fact that you disappear every now and then might cause less suspicion if they were to think that you actually were a student. Meaning that you will also have to visit the Dining hall once a day.'_

Why did something like that happen every single time he thought that things couldn't get any worse?

~0~

JNPR dormitories, 7:58 day Four.

Jaune woke up with a loud yawn and checked the time on his scroll. The first college at Beacon Academy was due to start at eight thirty; giving them roughly half an hour to dress up, prepare and move. According to the schedule, they were supposed to sit there for ninety minutes listening to a man ranting about Grimm, before moving to the dining hall for breakfast. All in all, there would be a thirty minute break to eat and move before they would have to move to PE class. And that was where his chokepoint lay. He had no trouble in taking in a boring lesson about monsters before enjoying a meal; coupled with that break he would one hour to recover from that lesson. But when it came to PE…physical exercise…he had some serious doubts. The Initiation was a hell to fight through and he only succeeded on doing so because his partner was a famous athlete. Gym? His team wouldn't be able to pull him out of the fire that easily.

At least he had quite some time to prepare –time that he took accordingly. A message sent the previous evening had informed them that they would need their weapons during the first college and their complete combat outfit during the second. That spelled trouble.

"Alright guys! Up and at them! We need to get ready for the coming hours!" He said loudly and woke his teammates up. Nora and Ren slept in their pajamas, while Pyrrha slept in nothing more than a skirt and a top. He felt the tips of his ears grow warm as he watched her rise from her bed, shaking her beautiful hair over her shoulder and stretching her limbs. She really was very pretty…

"Isn't it a bit early to get up? We could have slept for at least fifteen more minutes…" Ren said and tried to assemble his neatly ordered clothes –all of which had been messed up and spread across the room in a spastic fit of his childhood-friend. Exactly how Nora had done so from her own bed was beyond Jaune's imaginary abilities.

"We don't know how far away the room is." Pyrrha said and started dressing herself in her school uniform. "For all we know, we could spend a good half hour trying to find it."

He silently thanked the girl for coming up with a good argument to defend his cause and quickly thought of another reason why his randomly chosen alarm was a positive thing. "Breakfast is after the college, meaning that we have somewhere around fifteen minutes to get dressed and move out. I don't know about you, but I want to get to the place in time. Please put your hammer down…"

That last bit was aimed at Nora, who had grabbed her weapon and was not-so-subtly rising it above her head in an attempt to smash the alarm clock on her desk. "But it will ring! I know it will! And when it does, I will be ready…"

Ignoring that creepy plot to destroy school property, he started to fold his tie like his grandfather had told him to. Not the way that would potentially hang him, but the way that would make him look like a proper gentleman. Ladies liked gentleman.

"You don't need to kill the clock, Nora. Just get dressed and we will see about getting to the classroom in time, okay?" Ren told her, managing to calm the girl down.

"Okay…but one of these days the alarm will frighten someone and it won't be my fault!"

"I will keep that in mind."

It took them at least fourteen minutes and thirty-four seconds to get dressed and ready for action and between Nora bouncing all over the place and him nearly choking himself with his tie, he was starting to wonder whether they would ever get done. But then, at eight thirteen precisely, team JNPR was dressed up and in possession of the potential to be on the move.

"I told you we would need the time…" He teased his fellow male and then grabbed his scroll. The device was pretty useful when it came to checking schedules and messages. "Alright…we need to get the Daltium College room…which would be in the Daltium building…what is a 'Daltium?'"

"I would say that the name would probably be derived from the famous Daltium library in the Mistral region." Pyrrha said, demonstrating her major cultural knowledge once again.

"But where in Beacon is that?" Ren replied, already grabbing his scroll. "So many applications and not a single map on this thing…"

It was a strange thing indeed that their scrolls weren't outfitted with a map of the Academy. But that didn't matter much; there was a pretty accurate map hanging downstairs, in the staircase leading up to the dormitories.

"Let's go check downstairs on the map where we need to go." He said and started to move, before he felt Pyrrha reach for his hand. He turned around and faced her, half expecting some cryptic claim or mysterious comment to dazzle his head for a few minutes.

"Your tie is backwards."

What did she mean by that? It had to be some sort of deep, poetic remark about how a part of his being wasn't in balance. But where did she get that idea? What part of him gave any sort of unbalance away?

"How do you know whether it is or not?" He said, hoping that he didn't sound like some sort of idiot for asking about that.

"I…can see it?"

Wait…what? How did she…?

"Jaune, fix that before we go." Ren said and crossed his arms. _Oh! So that was what they meant!_ He reached for his neck and found that his tie had indeed been tied neatly to hang on his back.

"I think I understand what you mean." He said and started messing with the piece of clothing. Ties were for adults…for boring men who didn't know how to enjoy life anymore. What would a young hero like him do with a tie anyway?

He was so busy with fixing his uniform that he almost didn't notice the commotion being caused in the room opposite to theirs. But one voice cut through both of the wooden doors and reached his ears without trouble.

"Did you check the time?" That sounded like Weiss Schnee…what was so important about the time?

He checked his scroll and realized that it was already eight twenty…ten minutes before they had to be in the classroom and ten minutes before they could even find out where that thing _was_.

"The time…" He muttered and opened the door. "We wasted too much time…"

"Perhaps it would be wise for us to move now?" Pyrrha suggested, something that was already lying on Jaune's mind before she said it.

"Good idea."

He opened the door completely and just in time to witness team RWBY barging out of their room and charge down the hallway.

"What…" Ren said, but he had a feeling that it would be a good idea to follow them to wherever they were headed.

"Let's follow them!" He said and started the chase. It was always a good idea to follow team RWBY whenever they were desperate. At school at least.

~0~

Daltium College, 8:34

The Professor had yet to arrive at the classroom, but it would be a tight race against the clock. Because the large lecture hall was currently holding the teams LACG, CRDL and that was about it. There were several more teams sitting scattered throughout the hall –all of them unknown. RWBY and JNPR had yet to arrive...and Lisa seriously doubted whether Peter Port would accept latecomers. So it would be a race between the two missing teams and the missing Professor.

"Where are they?" She softly asked her teammate. Cho merely shrugged and Grace didn't even respond to her. What was so interesting about the drawings on the board that she couldn't stop staring at it? Yes they were good representations of the monsters of Grimm, congratulations! A monkey could have made them…and she was starting to think that this Port really was a monkey in disguise.

The clock hit eight thirty-five and at that exact moment, the door opened. The large-set Professor entered the lecture hall from the room at the back and started walking down the stairs. Everyone sitting in the room turned to face him –and the dozen people sneakily following him. It looked like she wasn't the only who thought that getting to class too late was a bad idea; teams RWBY and JNPR were sneaking after the Professor in an attempt to enter the classroom without being noticed.

Something that she had seen happening a few times before back home and it never worked. They forgot about the three essential steps of sneaking! One: direction and area. Two: distraction and rear guard. Three: back-up plan. They had One and Three covered, but they didn't have a distraction!

"You are being awfully quiet…" the man muttered to the students in general and she could see him turning around. It was happening in slow-motion; his massive body was turning slowly turning and there would be nothing between him and the twelve unfortunate students who had attempted to use him as cover. Nothing at all.

"Oh professor!" Grace suddenly yelled. RWBY and JNPR froze in their sneaky movements and gazed at her, despair and fear clearly visible in their eyes.

What was she planning? Was she going to rat them out? That was very unlike her!

The man stopped in mid-turn and his head turned towards her general direction. "Yes?" He asked.

"Could you perhaps explain what good a 'spleen' does to the human body? That part was very vague. I have the page here, if you want to read what they said about it."

"Ah yes! The mighty human spleen! I will explain that shortly during my lesson, if you possess patience."

And with that the bulky moustached man continued down the steps, allowing the twelve illegal students behind him to take their places in the banks without being noticed.

Lisa gave her friend a thumb up and was delighted to see that the lesson wouldn't be as dull as she had feared it would be.

"Now then class…" Port said and stepped up to his desk, which was covered with papers and ink. "Today we will discuss several terms and subjects…the first chapter of your fabulous book being one of them. But let me introduce myself to you properly! I! Am Professor Port. I will be your teacher during Grimm studies…at least the competent one."

What? Was this guy serious? Did he seriously just insult Matt just like that? The nerve of him!

"But let us not dwindle on unimportant matters. The most important one of today will be the most important one of your lives! You may have many modules and classes throughout your study here, but none of them will be as important as Grimm studies! For your most mortal enemy are the creatures of Grim. They are monsters! Demons! Prowlers of the night! But I refer to them as…prey!"

He laughed loudly, but when he noticed that nobody was sharing his humour, he quickly stopped and nervously scraped his throat. He did not notice that only half of the attending students were actually paying attention to him: Blake, Yang and Cho were listening with rapt attention, as were Ren and Pyrrha. But the rest of them were doing something different; whether that was taking notes or cooking up a new form of high-explosive grenade wasn't very important.

Lisa wasn't one to immediately lose interest in a teacher like that…but the prospect of having to listen to the stupid rambling of a fat overconfident teacher for ninety minutes wasn't exactly enticing. New ideas of sharpening the blade on her rifle came flooding to her mind and soon, the words of the professor became lost in a torrent of 'blah's'.

"And in due time, you will do so as well, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now as I was saying…"

~0~

8:36

Time had the annoying habit of moving very slowly, even when people actually wanted to pay attention. The many, many words coming out of that man's mouth were filled to the brink with information, Weiss was sure of that. But the way he spoke them made it…difficult for her to actually follow them.

"But first! The tale of a handsome young man…me! Namely. When I was a boy…"

She sighed and tried to listen to the coming story, but something else caught her attention. Or rather stole it away from her: Ruby was seemingly very busy with taking notes…too busy for it to not be suspicious.

Just when she was about to ask her what the hell she was doing, the girl rose her head and showed what she had been writing. Or drawing.

"Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. Peter! He told me…"

It was a doodle of her and Ruby walking hand in hand through the city. 'Friends.' Was the title. Why would she make something like that…was her friendship with her seriously the most important thing on her mind during this lesson? The professor was telling a very interesting…boring…tale and she was busy making drawings of them? Together with cute little titles saying Weiss and Ruby? That was…was…actually kind of cute.

"Ah hem!" The Professor barked in an attempt to get their attention and when he was satisfied that he had it, he continued. "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer _tenacity!_ And I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

No! It wasn't cute! It was childish and irresponsible and it wouldn't do them any good!

"The moral of this story? A true huntsman must be honorable!"

But the innocent smile that Ruby gave her, even when she had been glaring angrily at her was…confusing. It made her think about why the leader of team RWBY would waste time and effort to make a drawing of them together…without Yang and Blake, nonetheless. Was it because she was just being a child? But a child would be unable to understand how people felt…so there had to be more to it!

"A true huntsman must be dependable!"

She felt her cheeks stinging with heat and wondered why everything that the girl did caused her so much confusion. Surely she would understand her own feelings? Right?

"A true huntsman must be strategic, well-educated and wise!"

It did not make sense…Ruby's behavior was completely unacceptable! First she acted like a child, then a responsible adult and then she was being childish again! Making a drawing of the two of them walking happily through the town…why would she do that…why?

"So who among you believes themselves to be the true embodiment of those traits?"

If she didn't distract her thoughts soon, she would only get entangled in a web of her own confused feelings and that was not acceptable –it was not!

"I do sir!" She yelled and raised her hand. Ruby's happy smile disappeared and turned into one of wonder and confusion at her decision.

Yes! Some people had to make tough calls in order to remain in control!

"Well then, let's find out!" The Professor said and turned towards a large object standing next to his desk; which appeared to be a large cage.

"How come nobody saw that until he pointed it out?" Cho said, raising a very valid point.

"Step forward and face your opponent!" Port cheerfully said.

Weiss did as he said, brandishing her Myrtenaster as she tried to think of what could possibly be sitting inside of that physics-defying cage. It had to be a Grimm of some sorts…perhaps a Beowolf?

"Go Weiss!" Yang yelled.

"Fight well!" Blake added.

"Show it who's the boss!" Ruby yelled, much to her annoyance. Why couldn't that girl simply take the hint and shut her distracting mouth?

"I'm trying to focus!" Weiss yelled, hoping that it wouldn't look like she was yelling at the redhead in particular.

"Oh…uhm…sorry…" The girl in question replied and dropped her head. Damn…it hadn't been her intention to make Ruby sad; the only thing she ever wanted was a moment to clear her head.

But she should have realized that a fight with a Grimm wasn't one of those moments.

"Alright." Port said and grabbed the strange axe from his wall. "Let the match…begin!" He smashed the lock on the cage and the door flung open instantly, revealing a black, bulky creature.

A Boarbatusk. Not the strongest Grimm out there, but a strong opponent nonetheless. And seeing as it was very well defended, the fight would be dragged out to a very long one.

As soon as the creature spotted her, it bellowed a loud cry and charged at her. It crossed the distance of seven meters within two seconds and nearly flattened her; the only reason she was able to evade the attack was because she used Myrtenaster to deflect the attack and rolled to the side. The sheer power and speed of the creature nearly tore her arm out of her socket!

The professor laughed and pointed at the creature. "Wasn't expecting that, were you? Now, take note of how well developed the legs are; they are capable of launching the beast to great amounts of speed. Keep up the work!"

From the corner of her eye she could see Ruby watching her with clear worry visible in her expression. She was honestly worried about her…that was a good thing, right?

"Be careful Weiss!" She yelled, causing her to return her gaze to the enemy she was fighting. The boar-shaped Grimm possessed four tusks and multiple white plates of armour surrounding its limbs. It was a tank in appearance and she had never actually faced one before…but how hard could it be to beat such a thing? If she speared it with her rapier in its head, it would die. Simple as that.

She utilized a glyph to use as a starting point and accelerated towards the monster, using her great speed as the driving force behind weapon.

But instead of delivering what had to be a lethal hit, her weapon got caught on the tusks just when the point met the skull. Her arms came to a jarring halt and she felt her shoulders ache from the sudden strain. How? How had the Grimm resisted her attack? Her stance had been good and her aim had been accurate.

"Bold! I like it!" Port yelled loudly when he saw her struggling to maintain her stance –which didn't take longer than a second. As soon as the Boarbatusk had realized that she was stuck, it started shaking its head like a terrier would to kill a rat.

"Notice the powerful neck muscles; there are very few creatures of Grimm that are capable of delivering as much power with their heads as these Boarbatusks are. "

Yes. Great to know. And as Weiss was flying through the air in one direction and her weapon in the other after a particularly powerful swipe, she thought about how the anatomy of the monster would be so very interesting AFTER the fight.

"What will you do without your weapon? These creatures are so incredibly well-armoured that unarmed attacks will NOT hurt them young lady!" The Professor told her.

She swore as she saw the creature charging at her again and she quickly rolled to her side, nearly bumping her head on the ground in the process. She could see a shimmer of metal lying directly in front of her and realized that this might be the only chance she had to actually grab it before the creature would charge again.

She dived towards her weapon-

-and the Grimm charged again. She was just barely able to slide the rapier back in her hands before the Grimm raced past her and sailed right into Port's desk. An anguished cry of the Professor and several mutters of surprise made her realize just how lucky she had been that the Boarbatusk missed her. She couldn't allow herself to slip up like that again; it would be the death of her.

"Weiss! Go for the belly, it isn't armoured there!" Ruby let her voice sound again, causing Weiss' patience to run out.

"Stop telling me what to do!" She yelled at the girl. The sole reason for her being in this fight was to get away from the girl who had received her position as a leader so easily and whose words and actions confused her so intensely. If Ruby continued to talk to her like that, there would be no way she could ever focus on the damn Grimm!

The redhead looked seriously hurt at her comment and she quietly bowed her head again. Good; now Weiss would finally be able to focus on the task that lay at hand!

The boar roared at her again and jumped into the air. She could hear Port saying something about powerful muscles propelling the creature high into the air, buowH_ mH_t she didn't really listen to him. She only had senses for the Grimm and how it formed its body into a tight sphere, before using some sort of organ to propel itself to incredible speeds. The moment that the rolling body hit the ground, it picked up speed and came charging at her again with a velocity that she had never seen before in an enemy.

She yelped with surprise and in a desperate reflex, used the first move that came to her mind. She raised her Myrtenaster and activated a blue-white glyph in midair to stop it. The rolling builder of a monster came crashing against the dust-powered circle and was stopped to a halt. Seeing her opening as clear as it could ever get, she prepared to use another technique. But the idea of team RWBY and how it was led by the fifteen-years old girl entered her mind again and she lost her focus. The moment that her concentration dissipated, the glyph blocking the Grimm did too.

It roared and charged at her again in one final all-out charge, jumping high in the air to flatten her underneath its mass. She gasped in surprise and tried to back away, but nearly tripped over her legs.

Nearly nearly tripped. Losing her balance completely, she tumbled backwards and immediately brought her weapon up in defense. The body of the boar came closer and closer and she tried to crawl backwards away from the monster, but she couldn't get the speed to get back on her feet. The Grimm landed on the floor a meter from where she was and jumped at her again, intending to spear her with its tusks. She could see the shining teeth coming closer and closer to her head and she sucked a deep breath of air in when they suddenly stopped, coming together with a loud unearthly squeal.

What had happened? Had someone interfered with their battle to save her? Please don't let it be Ruby, do NOT let it be Ruby!"

"Look at that ladies and gentlemen! This huntress-to-be actually managed to lure the Grimm in a position where she could kill it without trouble!"

What was the Professor talking about? Had she actually killed it?

The dead weight of the Boarbatusk weighed down on her body like a…a dead boar. Her Myrtenaster had speared it in its unarmoured stomach when it had jumped at her, actually causing its own death.

It was mortifying to realize how easy it was for a full-blown attack to turn into a mortal mistake so easily. It served to shake her into seeing that she still needed much practice and training. And the entire first year of Students had been there to witness her doing so…

Ruby had seen her nearly messing up with the Grimm. And that was the final straw.

"Class, I know that I promised you a long lesson with much interesting topics, but I am afraid that this is all the time we have! You are dismissed and remember: stay vigilant!"

The moment that Port told them that they could go, she turned towards the exit and stormed off, ignoring a perplexed Jaune asking her what 'her deal' was. This entire day had been a complete mess! First of all they had very nearly missed their first actual college, then Ruby had proceeded to screw with her head by making a little drawing during the lesson and finally she had went through the most embarrassing fight ever in front of everyone she even remotely cared about.

And she didn't even know what her biggest problem with Ruby was: the fact that she wasn't even remotely competent to be a leader or the fact that she was the biggest source of confusion and wonder that she had seen up to now. Or at least the biggest source she had seen for years.

She heard running footsteps and turned around to face a new source of nuisances.

"Weiss!" A voice yelled and she could see Ruby Rose coming around the corner, apparently looking for her.

"What!" She replied with a much harsher tone than she had wanted to use.

"What's wrong with you? Why are you being-?"

What was wrong with her? What was wrong with HER? "Why don't you tell me little miss I know better than you! The entire time on Beacon you have been switching back and forth between acting like a stupid child and acting like a…like…I don't even know what you are supposed to be acting like!"

Ruby was obviously taken aback by her words, looking shocked and insulted at the same time. "What did I do?"

"That's exactly my point! You have done absolutely NOTHING to deserve your position as a leader! Back in the forest you were being such a child and here again! You –you-"

"Am I being a child…or are you just trying to give meaning to the things you don't understand?"

"There you go again! If you are not being a childish girl you are acting like a know-it-all!"

"Where is this coming from? Was it because of your fight with the Grimm, or did I do something to activate a nasty memory?"

Memories? Oh the nerve of that…Weiss was on the verge of something and she didn't know whether that was reaching out and slapping Ruby in her face or simply walking away.

"I thought you believed in acting as a team!"

Yes. Yes she did. An actual team, not a ragtag team of idiots. "Not a team led by you."

She thought of a way to formulate her feelings and decided to settle for what had to be the major choking point in their relationship. "I have studied…and I have trained…" Her voice was starting to quiver and she didn't know how long she could keep this up. The very image of Ruby standing there with a slight frown on her face caused her own head to go haywire. "…and frankly, I deserve better."

She turned around was about to walk away when she heard Ruby speaking up again. "Weiss…please…just talk to me. Continue talking and make me understand-"

No. She wouldn't do that again. Ruby Rose wouldn't cause another disaster in her mind just like that. "I don't care what Ozpin decided…he has made a mistake."

There, that was bound to cause some severe emotional reactions in her. _You see Ruby? You are not the only one who can mess with people by talking to them._

She didn't stick around to continue talking to her and left the hallway.

~0~

Her words hurt. Badly. Because Ruby knew that they were true…she had never done anything to deserve her position on Beacon, let alone a position as a teamleader. Weiss was worried about her not being able to live up to her position and that caused her mind to develop feelings of doubt.

But she could at least give her a chance…Blake and Yang had done so…they had trusted her with the position of teamleader…so why couldn't Weiss do the same? Had that little drawing been too much? It had merely been a form of expression…and attempt to let the Schnee Heiress realize that she was so happy to be on a team with her. Things had been going so well…but with that act, she had seemingly messed everything up.

And the strange thing was that Weiss had actually looked puzzled by her drawing. Not the kind of puzzled that meant that she had no idea why, but the kind of puzzled that meant that she had no idea why…no, that didn't make any sense.

Weiss had wondered why she would draw something like that in the sense of 'why you and me together' instead of 'why now during the lesson' and that was a good thing. Her reaction to the drawing had been positive…yet it seemed like she needed to compensate for feeling positive by acting even meaner than usual. Could it be that Weiss didn't like liking her?

A sudden shadow behind her nearly caused her to jump. She turned around and saw the Headmaster himself standing behind her. "Now…that didn't seem like it went well." He was holding his cane and his cup of coffee and his appearance was just what she needed.

Because even though Weiss might have said these words out of her own conflicted feelings –with emphasis on 'might'- but that didn't mean that they didn't sting. It was funny how she had used the words 'quite frankly' because 'quite frankly' she was on the verge of crying. She turned to face the headmaster and hoped that the man really was as nice as he seemed to be. "Is it true?" She asked him, hating how her voice sounded like a desperate whisper. "Did you make a mistake?"

"That remains to be seen." He said with a faint smile. Why was that?

~0~

There was the man she was looking for. Professor Peter Port, the man who had just given them the fine lesson. Weiss walked up to him and tried to think of a way to formulate her thoughts so that they would make sense to him. "P-Professor Port?"

"Ah! Miss Schnee! How are you doing? To what do I own this fine pleasure?"

Yes…to what…how could she give meaning to her feelings? What was the very first thing that lay on her mind…Ruby's childish side or her confusing side? "I…I enjoyed your lecture!" She said, hoping that she could win more time to think about what it was that she truly felt.

She wanted to be recognized for the things she did herself…and with Ruby as a leader, that would not happen. That had to be it!

…right?

"Of course you did child, you have the blood of a true huntress in you!"

That caused her to smile. At least one person out there who saw her potential. "You really think so?"

"Most surely!"

No…that wouldn't do…it wasn't the Professor whose opinion she sought…

For some reason, Port noticed her distress and called her out on it. "Hmmm…something is troubling you?"

No point in lying about it; this was the sole reason she had come to meet him. "Yes sir…"

"Dear girl, confess to me your strife!"

"Well…I…I…" Yes, what now? Would she tell him about the leader issue or the Ruby issue? Or were those two linked together; causing so many problems because they both existed? In that case, she should at least try to take one out of the mess. "Well I think that I should…be the leader of team RWBY."

That didn't come out as strong as she had hoped it would. Still, the Professor took the time to ponder over her words. Or at least it looked like that.

"That is preposterous!"

What? Did he just wave the entire possibility of solving her problems away with one word?

"_It's only been one day Ruby. I've made more mistakes than any man, woman and child on this planet. But at this moment, I would not consider your appointment to leader to be one of them. Do you?"_

"Excuse me!" She said loudly, falling back to the one thing that she knew worked. Getting angry.

"I've believed in Professor Ozpin for many years now and the man has not once let me astray!"

"So you would just blindly accept his decision even after seeing how exceptional I am?!"

This man's blind arrogance and faith in his superiors could cost her her solutions! He had no idea how troubled she currently felt and his attitude would only make it worse.

"With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is only matched by your poor attitude."

Was he seriously calling her out on her behaviour? That was so…so…so Ruby! "How dare you!"

"My point exactly. I see before me a girl who has spent her life getting everything that she ever wanted."

In an instinctive gesture she crossed her arms and countered his criticism. "That's not even remotely true!" There were some things that she had always wanted and never gotten…but he was very close to the truth nonetheless. "Well…not entirely true…"

"_Being a teamleader isn't a badge you carry into battle, but a badge you carry constantly. If you're not always performing at your absolute best…then what reason do others have to follow you?"_

"So the outcome did not fall entirely in your favor. Did you really think that acting in such a manner would cause the people in power to reconsider? That is the reasoning of a child…a reasoning that I am sure you do NOT use intently."

He had a point…she possessed a very childish attitude…and he wasn't the first one to point her to that. Perhaps…perhaps Ruby was right after all. She did have the capability to act like a responsible adult; it just…lay dormant sometimes.

"So instead of fretting over what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect every technique and be not the best _leader_…but the best person. "

He was totally right…it didn't matter how she felt about Ruby being the teamleader…she was chosen for a reason and she had demonstrated the ability to do something that Weiss could never have done in such a way: figuring people out.

"You are right…" She sighed and looked the Professor in his eyes. "Thank you."

The man's moustache curled upwards in a smile and she turned around to leave. It was time to find Ruby and…perhaps apologize for her behaviour.

"_You are burdened with a daunting responsibility, Ruby. I advise you to take some time to think about how you will uphold it."_

It didn´t take Weiss very long to actually find the dormitories; Professor Port had aborted the lesson at least one hour too early…meaning that they had ninety minutes to simply lay back and relax. And she was planning to utilize that time to the best of her capabilities.

She opened the door to the room and looked around. It looked like Blake and Yang had already left to go to the dining hall. Good; that would make it easier for her to swallow her pride and tell the girl what was on her mind. It looked like the redhead was still in the room though –a conversation would be virtually impossible if she wasn't, so that was good.

She climbed on top of the bunk-bed and wondered what the girl had been doing. Ruby had created a small tent surrounded her bed, enabling her to make her homework undisturbed.

"Ruby?" She softly said, not wanting to disturb the girl so roughly after what had happened. "I wanted to talk to you."

No response. Strange…

She moved the blanket to the side and looked inside of the makeshift tent, seeing what Ruby had gathered inside. There were at least two different notebooks lying on her bed, accompanied by the large Anatomy and Mentality of Grimm. Had she seriously tried to drown her own hurt feelings by making homework? That was…kind of admirable.

"Ruby?" She reached out and gently touched the girl's shoulders, instantly awakening her.

"Weiss!" She yelled and started flailing in surprise. "I-I was studying and fell asleep and…I'm sorry!"

There was no way of telling who might be listening in through the walls, so she softly placed her finger on Ruby's lips in a silencing gesture. The girl's cheeks turned red at the touch and Weiss realized that the contact might be very intimate to her….a bit like a lovers touch.

She withdrew her hand and thought of a way to make it seem more innocent to the girl. Then she spotted an empty Beacon mug and realized that the best way to make something look innocent was to use a good distraction.

"How do you take your coffee?" She asked her.

"I…I don't…" The girl started, but Weiss wasn't having any of that.

"Just answer the question!" She said, once again speaking a lot louder than she had intended.

"Uhm…cream and five sugars!" She hastily yelled.

Weiss smiled at her innocence and left the bunk bed, beginning to search underneath her own bed. She had a can of coffee stored there for emergencies and this seemed like an emergency to her. Pouring her teammate a nice cup of coffee, she once again appeared at her bed.

"Thanks…" Ruby said and took the cup. Now for the hard part…emotions.

"Ruby…" She started. "I am not always acting like the nicest person to you…and there is a reason for that. I never…I never actually met a person like you before and you…your actions and attitudes are so confusing to me."

The girl frowned and appeared thoughtful for a second. Then she looked her in her eyes and gave her reply. "Can you…tell me what it is what I do that confuses you?"

Oh yes! Yes she could! "I think that you will be a great leader for our team…but your past childish behaviour caused mixed signals. At one moment you can be so wise and responsible…but the next one you act like such a strange kid…like that drawing at the college. Why would you make something like that?"

"I did that because I am so happy that you and I managed to get to a working dynamic. We had so much strive…but that changed when we became team RWBY. I just wanted you to know that I…I really like you. And that I only want the best for our team and its future!"

Ah…that stung. Not because Weiss didn't like Ruby –hell, if her conflicted emotions were any indicator then she adored the girl – it was because she felt guilty. She had acted so mean against the Rose and all that _she_ had ever wanted was to be friends…right?

"And it was that kind of behaviour that confused me so…I didn't know what to feel around you. But now…now I think I do! I want to…no, I _will_ be the best teammate you can ever have!"

Ruby smiled at that and Weiss could actually feel the atmosphere warming up. "Thank you Weiss…that means a lot to me. I know that emotions are tricky things…I struggle with them frequently myself, you know? But…I think that if we work together…we will unravel them. Together."

She might know a lot of things about people…but Weiss knew that Ruby had NO idea how much that actually meant to her. Without actually telling her that she was feeling conflicted, the younger girl had still proposed a way to combat the rising tensions in a way that everyone could feel good about. She truly was a good leader.

"Thank you…" She whispered and tried to think of something that could be said, anything that could express her gratitude at that moment. But she couldn't find the words…which wasn't a bad thing. Both of them knew that it went without saying.

"You're welcome!" Ruby shined and before she could say anything else, Weiss found the words she had wanted to say.

"You know…I've always wanted bunk beds as a kid."

Ruby laughed at that and together, the two girls stayed in the dormitories of team RWBY, spending at least another half an hour talking.

~0~

9:17, Beacon Academy.

"Any idea what was up with Weiss and Ruby?" Jaune carefully asked. It had been on his mind for quite some time now, but it was a tough thing to ask about.

"No idea…but it looked bad." Pyrrha replied and took a closer look at her scroll. "We still need to wait until ten until we can have breakfast, by the way."

"Damnit…" Nora muttered.

"You would think that we could start breakfast before ten…" Ren said.

"At least they still let us have coffee and tea…" Blake muttered in turn and took a sip from her own cup of tea.

"I don't think that they accounted for the Professor breaking his lecture off halfway…" Lisa said, who was still messing with her weapon. Teams LACG and JNPR had been sitting in the dining hall for five minutes now –being the only teams to actually show up, seeing as Yang and Blake only made up half of team RWBY- and the girl had spent every second sharpening the bladed section of her rifle.

"Well…it was an amusing lesson wasn't it?" Yang replied.

"You could say that…" Blake added.

"So…" He tried again, laughing nervously. "Physical Exercise coming up huh? I wonder what we will need to do during that one."

"My guess? Physical exercise…" Lisa replied, running another stone down her blade in her attempts to sharpen it.

"Do you have to keep doing that?" Cho asked her. "I would say that it is sharp enough now."

"He told me that I need to take care of it regularly; otherwise the blade will turn dull and blunt. And seeing as I use it on a daily basis, I chose to sharpen it twice a day. Simple."

"'He'? Do you have a boyfriend?" Yang teasingly asked her, causing Cho to spray the contends of his drink all over the table in front of him –narrowly missing Alessa, who instinctively brought her hands up to defend herself from the spray.

"Sorry…" He muttered and wiped his mouth on his sleeve.

"No!" The girl replied loudly, her cheeks turning red at the suggestion. "What made you think that!"

"Just kidding!" Yang laughed. "You said 'he' and I filled in the blanks."

"I do wonder…what 'he' are you talking about?" Pyrrha asked her.

Lisa started to stutter in her next attempt to answer; "I…w-well…I just…it…he…t-that is…"

"Don't worry about it girl, it doesn't really matter." Grace said from her position next to Alessa.

"Yeah...thanks Grace…" the blonde grumbled and proceeded to bravely face the table underneath her. "When I talk about my weapon…and a 'he' talking about it…I…mean my brother."

What? Lisa had a brother? Since when?

"You have a brother?" Ren asked her. "What does he know about your weapon?"

"He helped me design it…" She said and coughed very subtly.

"He helped you design your bladed rifle?" Jaune asked her, feeling a bit confused. "Is he a Huntsman as well?"

"You can say that…" Lisa replied, looking very uncomfortable now. "I don't really want to talk about that…can we drop the subject?"

Cho suddenly shot upright in his chair and muttered "Ouch!" and at the same time, Grace loudly scarped her throat and looked at him with a very nice smile –that totally didn't look faked. "Yes Cho? You wanted to say something?"

The boy narrowed his eyes and sighed. "Yes…I wanted to propose…to walk towards the counter…and ask if we can't start breakfast a bit earlier."

Alessa snickered and Grace seemed very interested in her own cup of tea.

"That's actually a good idea!" Pyrrha happily said. "If we can get them to start spreading the food earlier, we might be able to get Miss Goodwitch to start her own lessons earlier…"

"Which leaves us with an entire day to spend at the city of Vale!" Jaune finished her sentence, feeling happy that he could finally say something useful as well.

"One problem…" Blake added and finished her cup of tea. "We already asked them to start earlier and they said that only a Professor could get them to."

"That leaves us with no other alternative…but to eat THEM!" Nora yelled, causing everyone but Ren to jump in surprise.

"No Nora…just patience…" He said and patted her on her head.

"So we need a professor to come get us food? We will become hunters! Can't we do anything on our own here?" Yang angrily yelled, seemingly uncaring about the consequences of her loud voice.

"I don't think that the solution to our problem comes walking through the doors just because you yelled…" Blake said with a sigh…

…and virtually one second later the doors opened and revealed Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee and Professor Matt.

"And don't let me catch you doing that again!" The older man said with an angry tone to his voice. "That is your easiest way to get yourselves burned!"

"I thought that the easiest way to get burned would be to touch Grace's weapon?" Jaune jokingly said, but the Professor didn't hear him.

"I will remember that sir…" Ruby said and looked very ashamed of herself; even going as far as to stare at the floor while replying to him.

"Good." Math replied and was about to turn around and leave when Pyrrha called him out.

"Professor? Ehm, sir?" She said, managing to catch his attention just as he was about to turn away.

"Yeah!" He yelled and instantly spun around on his heel, turning to face the now complete trio of teams. "Shoot!"

"I was wondering…" She continued, "we were dismissed a bit too early from our class. We want to have breakfast…but without an order from a Professor, the people serving said breakfast will be unable to actually do so. Could you possibly?"

"I can cook an egg…" The professor said without taking his eyes off Pyrrha. "Well…cooking is an understatement…more like…" He swallowed and smiled nervously. "Combusting…and exploding…so what can I do?"

Lisa groaned in frustration and bonked her head into the table.

"Uhm…talk to the canteen-people?" Jaune suggested, hoping that the solution would be so simple to solve.

"What a silly idea!" Math replied. "Why would I do something as…as silly as to talk to canteen people! No offense to you of course…" He muttered those last words at the lady standing behind the counter, who have him a thumbs up.

"So that we can all have breakfast earlier…sir?" Weiss asked him with a tone that was very obviously reserved for butt kissing the people in charge.

"Yes…I can try that…sure!" The Professor said and moved towards the counter.

"Don't say a thing…" Blake muttered when Yang was about to tell her something.

"A Professor came walking through the door after I shouted!" The blonde blatantly ignored her. "It worked!"

"Hello people!" Ruby happily said and walked up to them. "What did we miss?"

Jaune looked at the sudden happiness that was hanging in-between Weiss and Ruby and wondered at what could have happened to make them all teammate like all of a sudden.

"Oh…" Grace said and poked Alessa with her elbow. "Not much."

"No I don't want eggs!" Professor Math yelled, causing all three teams to cringe. Perhaps asking that man hadn't been the best of Pyrrha's ideas…

~0~

"_Like I said, Dust. People use it and I want it and more specifically…Roman Torchwick wants it. Whether he will use it as fuel or weapon charging or simple energy cannot be predicted properly…we will have to determine what will happen next by using several newly developed modes. I think that it is time to visit an old friend to get some information…Warehouse Six might be the location of a recent slaughterhouse, but it will still be a hub of information for those who poke properly."_

"_Are you asking me for permission to leave the complex?"_

"_Yes please!"_

"_You never saw fit to do so before…why now?"_

"_No reason…"_

- conversation between Glynda Goodwitch and Professor Matt, day four 7:30.

~0~

**Sorry for the long delay…I was crazy busy and stuff and I don't go to school because of the Christmas thingies and that caused me to write less. Please review! I need more reviews!**


	10. Chapter 10

**First off: a problem. So Monty Oum had established a Golden Rule…saying that every OC character needs to be named after/resembling/touching the mind of a colour. Also, the team name needs to be a colour/resembling a colour/making you think of a colour. So after having posted this chapter, I will need to rename a few of the OC's. But don't worry! Me, my friend and my dear (slightly evil genius) little sister have decided that there won't be any drastic changes; most if not all of the names you know will remain the same…sort of. **

**And a question for my dear readers: the summary of this story…does it work? I mean, does it attract attention or is it too boring to even start with? I know that most people read stories because they are attracted to the summary…so if the summary of the story seems to suck, please let me know.**

**On the other hand, I am back! Back to school and more importantly, the train of fanfiction! Take this literally, the train the train where I write my fanfictions. So yay! More updates and plot twists!**

**~0~**

"_Give me a reason Matt…I don't need missing Professors today!"_

"_I cannot tell you Professor Goodwitch…not yet at least. But I have…suspicions. I need them soothed."_

"_Why don't you take some soothing crème instead of ruining my patience?"_

"_I didn't think you knew about soothing crèmes…a bit of a personal experience?"_

"_Get. Out. Now."_

"_Thank you for your consent Miss. Good day!"_

- conversation between Professor Matt and Professor Goodwitch.

~0~

9:40, Beacon grounds – day four.

Breakfast was usually very important. The very first meal of the day meant lots of proteins and sugars for straining activities. It was too bad for teams RWBY, JNPR and LACG that Peter Port had decided to call off his lesson for the first day; there was so much to learn and there were so many opportunities to test how the students thought and worked; whether they had done their homework, what it meant to them and how serious they had taken it.

They were lucky that he had been around to get the canteen staff to serve breakfast earlier; otherwise they would have had to wait for at least forty-five minutes before they could eat anything. But all things considered, the day might have even worked out better for them than what had been initially planned: first lesson contained no homework, they were done at least an hour earlier which meant sooner breakfast…and of course sooner PE classes. Glynda Goodwitch had taken notice of their newfound free time and had been so kind as to start her own lessons sooner than had been expected: the Professor had sent everyone in possession of a Scroll a message telling them that Physical Exercise was due to start at Nine Forty-five exactly.

So Professor Port's quick college had allowed the students to end their day sooner than they had scheduled, giving them a chance to spend another few hours in the city of Vale. That was both fortunate and unfortunate.

It was fortunate because, well, students were students. They liked to do as little as possible to achieve as much as possible and a day that would end somewhere around eleven o'clock was ideal for them.

It was unfortunate because it might complicate his plans. Because he liked information; information was good. Information made his work and plight so much easier…and if he were to achieve good information, then he couldn't use any form of students in his direct vicinity.

So now that he was heading towards the murdered-out husk that was Warehouse Six, the last thing he needed was a nosy would-be-hunter that followed him during his voyage. But he had it covered; even though their schedule had been changed dramatically, several things still stayed the same: like breakfast taking place during the morning. Teams JNPR, LACG and RWBY needed to feed at established times and even though they had almost lost the opportunity to actually do so, the prospect of breakfast was still enough to make them sit down and relax. And of course he had helped them; a breakfasting was a satisfied team. With barely enough time to eat before embarking onwards to physical education, they would just be too preoccupied to be nosy.

He had a faint idea of who was responsible for the slaughter at the Warehouse…but he had virtually NO real idea why that person would do something like that, besides from the obvious. It had to have been caused by an outer source; a person calling shots outside of Beacon.

"But who…" He muttered as he walked to the Vehicle Depot. He had no desire to walk all the way towards the Warehouse and even if he did; walking was for suckers.

Running all the way.

Opening the door to the technically off-limits storage facility, he took a moment to ponder the possible results of his appearance at the criminal-occupied Warehouse Six. Of course more than two-thirds of them had been wiped out during the rather one-sided battle, but that didn't neccesarily have to mean that there weren't any boss-figures around. If his Intel was any good, his visit would pay off.

"There you are…" He softly whispered as he beheld his ride. It would be good to drive that thing again; it had been too long since his last road-trip.

Even though this would hardly be a real road-trip…he had a specific goal this time: to gather information on recent events. If he would count the facts together, he would reach a disturbing conclusion. Or at least a rather confusing one; humanity beat Grimm and find Dust. Good. People start gossiping about returning Grimm. Bad. Ozpin forms Beacon Academy to quench the rumors and protect Vale. Good.

And that was where the things went a bit hairy: students with actual combat experience getting their education granted, increasing criminal activities in the city of Vale and outer influences causing things to happen without anyone overseeing them in Vale itself. That was bad. But the really bad thing was that the people had stopped talking about Grimm altogether. The Embodiment of Governing had officially gained enough power to make several rather important decisions and the most…brash of them all would be the decision that Vale no longer needed a military faction at all. According to that silly political group, the training of Hunters would be enough to safeguard the region of Vale –and with that the city of Vale.

He had personally never voted for that party…but the majority of the Kingdom had voted for them, enabling the already leading political faction to gain the title of Embodiment of Governing –officially making them the government. And no matter how much he disagreed with them, he simply couldn't tell an entire Government how to lead a country…more specifically, said Government would never _accept_ his speeches on how to guide a country.

Car!

He had been sinking away in his thoughts too much; barely seeing the traffic he suddenly found himself in, he evaded the incoming bikes and cars and softly muttered an apology. Warehouse Six was dead ahead and his 'car' wasn't exactly the most subtle one. The guards that were bound to be standing on the lookout for anything suspicious would most likely have seen him approaching.

But they weren't opening fire, which was good. He might not know why the building had been targeted, but he did know what the place had been hiding from the public eye.

And it disgusted him.

Corruption was a nasty thing and if said corruption was leading an entire country, it would be an even nastier thing. The politician wasn't the most influencing one out there, but he still held great power. And he was as corrupt as an apple that had been lying in the sun for three years. Minus the maggots of course; the man had underlings for that.

But if he was correct…and the reason for Six to be attacked like that lay with its most recent guest…then said guest would most likely be gone.

And that would narrow his list of assailants down to a handful. Still including his number one suspect of course.

He parked his vehicle near the gate and walked up to the poorly patched-up gates, taking great care to hide his disgust and hatred for the people he was about to consent with.

"What do you want!" One of the guards snapped at him and the other one quickly aimed a mass-manufactured rifle at his chest.

"Our boss is busy!"

Military training slightly present…facial expressions signaled uncaring needs for violence and craving for relieve…these guys were rookies. New guards…picked from a greenhorned selection of criminals, most likely.

Save speech for inside…save emotions for threatening times. Those would come very soon.

He forced a smile to appear on his face and remained very aware of the strange and most likely disturbing effects that it would have on the unsuspecting baddies.

"Go to your boss and tell him –go on, move it!" He said that last sentence with a bit of urgency in his tone. "Tell him that a free man is waiting for him. Come on now. RUN!"

The guard standing at the ready in front of the gate seemed like a rookie, but even rookies could be hardcore criminals before learning how to be powerful. This one looked like he had seen his share in shady and filthy business, yet he was completely uninformed of _his_ identity.

And the criminal visibly cringed when his loud voice rang out, causing the man to do the one thing he had told him to do: run.

And as the 'rookie' was running at full stumbling speeds to the main building, nearly dropping his rifle in the process, his own mind turned towards the coming conversations and how he would handle them.

~0~

9:44, Beacon grounds.

"You are all gathered here for one reason." The huntress known as Glynda Goodwitch said. She had no need for a raised volume; she was capable enough to keep the entire class concentrated and calm with just a basic measurement of her voice. "This module is simply called 'Physical Exercise' for a reason; that being a way to measure your capabilities, hone them and where necessary…correct them."

Why did everything that the Professor said sound so…threatening? If it were up to her, she would shift her tone to a more…pleasant one. Was that why she wasn't a Professor teaching at Beacon Academy and Glynda Goodwitch was? That could be…but there were so many different kinds of people teaching them at the school; the variety in didactic techniques was already so diverse.

Perhaps this was just another way to get them to listen with rapt attention?

"So without further ado, I will now explain the purpose of today's lesson. If you do not listen correctly or fail to understand what has been said, you will be at a severe disadvantage already."

The Professor took a small pause to let her words sink in before continuing. "Don't start with a disadvantage." She looked over the attending students and her gaze lingered for a split-second on someone standing at the back, before she continued talking.

And she did not miss the slight linger herself, even though several of her fellow students might have.

"Today's lesson will be an obstacle-course to test your endurance and ability to keep going. It won't be a matter of being first, alone or with your team, or winning. If you cross the finish, you win. Simple as that. People have different techniques to deal with obstacles and this lesson will determine whether you are capable of realizing when to hold back and when to give it your all."

That sounded more ominous than it should have…why did she feel like something was wrong? From the corners of her eyes she could see Jaune Arc visibly swallowing and Pyrrha Nikos nervously smiling. She could hear Yang whispering to Ruby: "Will we have to run tracks?" and Ruby replying with: "I don't want to jump hurdles!"

She had to give it to her teammates; they knew how to turn an awry situation into an awkward situation. That would both be positive and negative.

"If you will follow me, I will point to you the start of the track." Glynda started walking and the teams grudgingly followed her. "You will start here…at this point. Entering one team per round, you will all eventually get to cross the course. I told you before that time wouldn't be a problem, but every team still has to cross the finish within an hour. Your efforts will be filmed, scanned and graded for a maximum and most efficient conclusion. Just follow the lights and you won't get lost."

Lights? It was a bright day –how would they even see the lights that were supposed to guide them?

"Team CRDL will enter first. After ten minutes, team RWBY will follow. Ten minutes later, JNPR. Then, LACG. Cardin Winchester? Is your team ready?"

The bulky male stepped forward and his massive chest swelled with proud. "We are ready for every challenge."

The huntress raised her eyebrows when she heard that remark. "Truly? We will see about that then. Formation…set…and go."

The four boys charged headfirst into the first section of the obstacle-course: a dark patch of forest that surrounded the area, following the red lights that would enable them to clear the course.

She shook her head when she saw the team move in such a bold way…they had no idea what was going to await them in there; for all they knew there would a minefield waiting for them!

"They really think they are something…" Yang muttered and walked up to her.

"Idiots…" Weiss softly said and joined the blonde.

"I don't think that this will go well for them…" Ruby whispered and cringed when a distant explosion rocketed through the forest.

"They really didn't think this all the way through…" She added herself and crossed her arms. Team CRDL really was one different piece…they acted like they owned everything and everyone around them and from what she had gathered on them, they had a zero-tolerance towards anything that was different from them. And even though she hadn't exactly had a run-in with the four, she still knew that they were bullies. Plain bullies; hating everyone that didn't think and act like them.

People like them made her sick.

"I-interesting tactic, don't you think?" Pyrrha said from her own position.

"No…I do not think so." Ren replied with a shake of his head.

"Let's all take a moment to consider this newest tactical decision…and discard it completely." Jaune said, for the first time demonstrating his abilities as a proper leader in her eyes. "So what will we not do today?"

"Die!" Nora cheerfully yelled, actually frightening her a bit and –judging by their reactions- the rest of team RWBY. But Jaune merely patted her on her back, showing a complete disregard for her strange way of expressing herself. Were those small outbursts common in team JNPR? And here she was thinking that team RWBY was the only team that had issues amongst the ranks. Positive or negative.

"Five minutes." Glynda Goodwitch stated and took a look at her scroll. "Take notice of how the Aura meters of team CRDL are already half depleted. Something went tragically wrong there and it is up to your leaders to figure out the best way of proceeding.

The woman held up her display and projected a larger image of the Aura-gauges that were apparently used to signify the remaining ability of a person to keep on fighting. The projection was at least two meters by two meters and indeed showed a severe drop in the Aura levels of CRDL. "This technique will be one that you, as a team, will employ during your missions and practice sessions alike. Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc and Lisa Mendez? All three of you will receive an extensive software upgrade to your Scroll that will enable you to gauge the remaining Aura-levels of all of your teammates. Cardin Winchester has already received the first upgrade after extensive insisting on how his team needed it BEFORE the first Physical Exercise lessons."

She bristled at those words. The arrogance of that Cardin! Insisting that his team needed it before the PE lessons practically oozed 'we are better we are special' in every way possible. Did that guy have no shame?

"Since that upgrade was the first one, you will have to wait for the remaining ones to commence. This practice round will have to transpire without those meters. But I am sure that…they will not be needed."

Taking an unfair advantage the moment it presented itself? That was not something that an arrogant, headstrong kid could simply seize. Cardin had to be cunning and manipulative to get what he wanted like that…it was a dangerous combination; CRDL would prove to be more than bullies in the future.

"That is not fair!" Lisa replied with an angry undertone. "Why did they get such an advantage while we have to wait?"

"Mister Winchester insisted on his team needing it before this class today. And if you look at your team, Miss Mendez, you will hopefully realize that this software upgrade will be and has to be replaced by simply looking as soon as possible."

The girl sighed but remained silent, but she was right to a certain degree. If the Scroll upgrade wasn't important then why did team CRDL even get it? Or…or…wait a minute, was that serious?

"So if CRDL received an unimportant upgrade earlier by whining…then the Professors must have figured that they would need it more than we?" Ruby said, neatly adding to her own string of thoughts.

"That's a good guess as any…" She said and ran hand through her dark hair before checking if her bow was still properly placed. "So the teachers think they are not competent enough for now?"

"Or their communicational skills could be severely lacking…" The redhead replied and snickered. "The almighty team CRDL needing cheats to win…irony is funny…"

Ruby was properly right…but there was still something off about the whole situation.

"Two minutes." Glynda said and turned towards the forest.

After another two minutes of waiting, the moment was finally there. Glynda gestured for them to take their positions at the starting point and then raised her hand in the air.

"Three…two…one…go."

At her words Team RWBY moved, under strict leadership of Ruby –who had properly decided that CRDL's tactic wasn't the best one out there. She took it a lot slower than them, but still moved at a pace that just denied simply walking.

She spend considerable effort in taking in her environment; looking at every tree and following the path with her eyes all the way into the deep forest. The red lights that signified their road were clearly visible from their current position, but something told her that it wouldn't be so easy.

"A simple obstacle-course huh?" Weiss said. "Why do I think that this is more than a simple obstacle-course?"

"Probably because this is Beacon…things are always more than simple. Even getting to breakfast this morning was a fight!" Yang replied and n past her, heading towards her younger sister in the lead.

"We had help this morning…" She said and unfolded her weapon. Apparently sending last-minute changes to the existing schedule was a hobby Ozpin's, because they were told to take their combat outfit and weapons with them for the PE lessons. Approximately five minutes before the lesson would begin.

They were lucky that they were still in their dorms at that moment; otherwise they would have been too late.

"Your way of viewing help is…exotic." Weiss gave her reply. "Professor Matt is many things, but at that very moment he did NOT help us!"

"He allowed us to have breakfast! That is helping to me!" Ruby yelled over her shoulder.

She had to give it to the younger girl: her way of viewing the world might be childish and overly romantic, but at least she was still standing with both of her legs on the ground…which could not always be said for Weiss Schnee.

~0~

10:05, Warehouse Six

"Who do you think you are!" The remaining guard sneered and pointed his own gun at him. "And who the hell do you think we are? You think you can just mess with us? Think you can just demand to talk to our boss?"

He was growing tired of this conversation very quickly. This man obviously didn't live in the criminal circuit for that long…otherwise he would have minded his tone. And his business. And probably his clothes too. So he simply smiled at the guard like his father had taught him to –with the most unsettling shark-like smile he could muster. "Yes I do." He instantly shifted his facial expression again and told the man quietly: "Now shut it."

It had the desired effect: the armed man looked very unsettled and even went as far as to actually lower his gun. He was just about to give a reply when the sound of glass breaking caught his attention and about a second later, an anguished cry shot out over the complex.

"What the…" the guard loudly proclaimed and turned around. The second guard was running towards them, waving and screaming.

"Open the gate! Open the damn thing and let him through! DO IT!"

He smiled in satisfaction as the two dazzled men proceeded to open the gates and personally escort him to the Warehouse itself. He took notice of the various bullet holes still decorating the walls and special notice of the newly installed windows; completely tinted black. How original.

"Our boss…would like to speak with you…" The first criminal said and opened a door to the side of the building.

"Would he now? That's good." He gave his reply and stepped inside of the building. One of the guardsmen entered the complex with him and then closed the door behind him, while the other one probably scuttled away.

He really hoped that he didn't have to wait as long to speak with the man as the last time he visited him. But if he was right, then he wouldn't have to wait long at all. And he liked to hope that he was right.

"Where is he? Lead me to him!"

"Sir!"

The shouting voices of a person in command and a person tying to kiss the butt of said person in command broke the awkward silence and the heavy 'thuds' of boots on stairs signaled that someone was approaching.

"Looks like you are about to meet the boss…" The guard muttered and took a few steps backwards, away from the coming confrontation.

He ignored that remark and clasped his hands behind his back, trying to contain his impatience. There was a door to his right and a door to his left, while the staircase was directly in front of him; and it was the staircase that deserved his well-focused attention. A heavy-built man was thundering down the steps, nearly tripping in his haste to get down. Two nasty-looking fellows were following him with their guns drawn.

"You…" The person that he had identified as the criminal boss growled. His arms were trembling and his fists were clenched. He was built like your typical criminal bouncer: muscled, big shoulders and underdeveloped legs, clothed like he had something to compensate for and armed like he expected a rat-plague.

It was his face that gave him away though; his eyes looked hard and cold, yet calculating and creative. A criminal mind had to be flexible to remain in control and this man was practically oozing with control –no doubt about it, this was his guy. His hand twitched and for a second, he thought that the man would pull a gun on him. But then the criminal forced a smile to appear on his face –albeit a very nervous one- and folded his hands together. Even his black moustache seemed to be twitching nervously. Good –he still had his touch. "Professor Doctor Badass…pleasant of you to…visit me again!" He said with a heavy accent.

The two men who had escorted him flinched and quickly looked away, but the guard that had entered the building gazed at him like he had just spewed the collective profanity of a complete dictionary. 'Boss!" He yelled. "What?"

He ignored the cowardly man and stepped forward himself, taking to care to keep his hands relaxed and behind his back. His bowtie was itching to be fixed, but that gesture would initiate a complete pants-wetting breakdown with the man in charge, so he would wait with that. "Good of you to remember my name…" He said, his voice dropping to a whisper. "Get to your office…we need to talk."

"Of course!" The bulky man snapped and nodded –his moustache flapping everywhere. "You follow me please…if you so kindly wish!"

The two escorting criminals stepped aside to let their boss pass and turned to gawk at his face with awe and suspicion. It would appear that these two remembered him too.

"I did not come here to be kind…this time." He said and one of the men reached for his heart. Ignoring the ridiculously overreacting criminals, he proceeded to follow the boss. "I came here for one thing and one thing only…"

"What could we possibly offer you!" The crime lord replied as he made his way through several small hallways until he eventually reached a very large open room, stacked with multiple vases, cabinets and being dominated by one large desk in the middle. He sat down with his back to the large window and folded his hands over each other.

Good. Time for business. He joined the criminal at the desk and leaned forwards. "The only thing you can offer me at this point…information."

His conversational partner swallowed and wet his lips with his tongue. "Yes…what do you want-"

"Use. My. name."

"P-Professor Doctor Badass…what you want to know?"

He leaned forwards even further and brought his face closer until he was only a few centimeters away from what had to be the most feared man in the commercial district of the City of Vale. "Let's start with that which starts everything…the creatures of Grimm."

~0~

10:15, Obstacle course.

"I told you that this could not be a proper obstacle-course!" Weiss yelled in distress as the four of them moved frantically to avoid any and all damage.

"Less talking more moving!" Blake replied and passed the white-haired girl.

"More like less talking and more running for your life!" Yang corrected her as she took the lead in their mad dash for safety. It had started out so easy; practically a stroll in the park. After they had followed a sign saying 'RWBY' followed by an arrow pointing the direction, they had stumbled upon a seemingly innocent obstacle.

As such, she had no idea just what went wrong. Her older sister was right about one thing and that was the part about the 'running for your life' thing. It had all started when her team had entered the forest to partake in the obstacle-course. After a hundred meters jog, they had stumbled upon a maze of pillars that easily stood ten meters tall. They were ten inches wide max and –judging by the multitude of red lights mounted at the same height- their way of continuing the course.

And when she had spotted the smaller poles allowing them to effectively traverse them; she had concluded that they needed to head that way one way or the other. So she, along with the rest of her team, had decided to climb the wooden poles to continue their journey.

It had been a mistake that might just cost them dearly. She had simply not seen the traps that were installed virtually everywhere and the moment that they had set foot on the large poles, they had been caught in the resulting chaos.

"Ruby! How come you didn't see these things?" Weiss yelled in fear as she dodged several projectiles that embedded themselves neatly in the nearest trees.

"I don't have x-ray vision Weiss!" She replied and used her scythe to slash and hack at everything that came in her path. Glynda Goodwitch had not sent them on a simple jogging exercise, that much was certain. The various traps that were installed throughout the forest were making their lives very difficult: firing darts, explosives and even dozens of paintballs. The end of the wooden pole-forest was approximately fifty meters ahead, but they were bound to activate even more traps during their movements.

As the poles behind them splintered and fractured from the intense display of fire, Weiss suddenly screamed in pain and shock and nearly tripped. Blake and Yang were too far away to simply turn back and help her and she wasn't even sure whether they had even seen it happen.

"Weiss!" She screamed and made a sharp turn to the left to grab her teammate and pull her out of the way of whatever had hit her. She felt a rising sense of dread chilling her spine as she saw what had happened. Weiss' ever so white combat skirt was stained red with multiple spots of impact. She had been hit by something! "Hang in there Weiss, I've got you!"

"Ruby!" Yang yelled and turned around. "Move it! Quickly!"

Huh? What was she talking about?

She looked over her shoulder and saw a row of poles burst into flames as fire charges were launched in the air. It was at least a dozen meters away, but fire could travel very quickly. "Come on Schnee! Work with me!" She tried to heave the girl to her shoulder, but Weiss was too heavy to be carried effectively.

"What are you doing?" Weiss asked incredulously. Poor girl! She was in so much pain that she was delirious.

"Sorry for this…" She muttered and wrapped her arms around Weiss' chest, trying to ignore the sudden warmth and softness that she felt.

"What-"The girl started, but her sentence was cut incredibly short when she launched herself off the wooden pole and towards their teammates. Her speed was slower than when she had used Crescent Rose, but it was still fast enough to escape the flames –and accidently trigger the remaining traps that Blake and Yang had managed to avoid. Whoops.

"Ruby! Weiss! Heads up!" Yang cried as she sped towards them. She shouldn't be heads-upping, they should be! If they didn't move quickly then they would get trampled by her!

Blake and Yang opened fire on an unseen target behind them just when she raced past them, nearly sailing into a tree. She skidded to a halt and felt the wooden poles gradually shift and make way for a wooden platform, suspended high above the ground.

"Let me go!" Weiss yelled and started struggling. Now that she had come to a grinding halt, she couldn't bear her weight anymore and let her go; taking care not to drop her from the platform. "Are you mad? What is wrong with you!"

"You are wounded!" She cried in return and tried to inspect her friend. The red stains were still very visible, but Weiss had to be a complete badass for ignoring what were essentially holes in her body.

"Stop probing me! You're not a doctor!" The girl angrily retorted and gently pried her off of her body, a red blush suddenly coming up on her cheeks.

"But…but…" Ruby tried, still feeling the desire to fumble with Weiss' skirt to check for wounds. "You were…shot…"

"Yes she was shot…" The voice of Blake suddenly said, causing her to jump two meters in the air and nearly smash her head into one of the thick branches. "But with paintballs."

She turned around and looked at her other teammate, who was standing with her hands on her hips and a red smear covering her face.

"Are you guys alright?" Yang said, joining them on the suddenly fragile-looking platform. "Those paintballs had to have been set on the maximum pressure! I almost felt uncomfortable!"

"Ha-ha…" She mumbled and awkwardly scratched her shoulder. The 'bullet-holes' she had seen on Weiss' clothes had been paintball smears…and the red wound on Blake's face was also paint. "Very funny…" Then she turned to face Weiss again and tried to think of something that would make her now irrational-seeming actions less awkward. "Sorry…I thought you were wounded…"

But instead of brushing her apology off with an insult, she merely smiled and patted her on her head. "Next time…grab me a little bit lower…"

Now she was the one whose cheeks were stinging red: so that had been the softness that she had felt…Weiss'…feminine parts…"Sorry…" Of all things she could have possibly done instead of heroically saving Weiss…

Blake shook her head with a hint of amusement on her face and moved to take the leading position. "Let's get going…we still have a ways to go."

"I really do NOT like surprises!" Yang said loudly, slamming her gauntlets together. "What jerk could possibly think of sabotaging a damn forest to get to us!" That makes ZERO sense!"

"Goodwitch told us that we would have to work hard…" Blake replied.

"Can we just move out now?" The Schnee-heiress said, doing something that could either be simply crossing her arms in anger or hugging her chest in an uncomfortable gesture. She wasn't too certain which one it was…

"CRDL thought about moving out and we all know what will happen to them!" She gave her reply and fumbled with her red hood for a few seconds. "We'll take things easy from now on."

"Speak for yourself sis'!" Yang cheerfully said and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "I wasn't the one nearly impaled by several wooden spikes…"

She swallowed as realization dawned on her that she had nearly gotten herself and Weiss killed in that spastic fit of emotions. "Right…I know…all the more reason to take things slowly!"

"Lead on…" Blake sighed and stopped next to the trunk of a particularly large tree.

She readied her scythe and tried to think of something to say, but her awkward touchy moment with Weiss kept popping up in her mind and she couldn't really get rid of the warm memory of her softness. Now was not the time to think about snuggling with friends, now was the time for action!

'_You can do this Ruby…'_ She thought in an attempt to cheer herself up. '_Just guide your team through the haunted, lethal and mean forest and then you can relax again.'_

She swallowed a lump that had formed in her throat and took a look at Yang. She didn't seem annoyed or disappointed or anything; merely looking ready for action. If her big sister believed that she could do it, then she would do it!

"Let's do this!" She said and guided her team onwards.

~0~

10:18, starting area obstacle course.

"Two minutes!" Glynda Goodwitch said. The woman really knew how to assert control over her group; their schedule was very tight and not a single student had dared question her methods since she had shot Lisa's comment down in flames.

"Alright…" He said and gestured for his team to gather closely around him. "This might be a tough one…but if we stick together as a team, we will pull through. We need to stick close and work hard…I don't know what those distant explosions mean, but they can't be any good."

"Do you have a plan?" Ren asked him. "Or will we simply run the track?"

"No simply running!" He replied and held up his hands to strengthen his cause. "I don't know what Professor Goodwitch planned for us, but this can't be a simple exercise. There is a twist and if we aren't careful, it will cost us our head!"

"She said that we might need to differ between slowing down and speeding up…" Pyrrha added. Her voice was always reassuring to him, no matter what it was that she was saying. "I agree with Jaune; we will need to be careful.

_Yes…thank you Pyrrha. _"Indeed. So, if we take the time to discuss a proper plan of moving, we can-"

"…two…one…go."

Darn. Goodwitch was way ahead of him –evil woman. "Alright team, move out!"

Nora yelped happily and was about to charge off again, but Ren called her name assertively a few times and called her back. "Listen to what Jaune says…he has good ideas."

That was actually a bit heartwarming to hear…especially from him. He never seemed to give any form of feedback to anyone safe for Nora and…she was a bit special. Perhaps she was in love with him or something? No, that would be ridiculous. They were simply childhood friends…that was all.

"Thank you Ren."

The four of them moved through a few dozen meters of thick, dark foliage before finally reaching the first 'obstacle' part of the 'course': A sign with their name on it. Why didn't that feel the least bit comforting?

He understood why it didn't feel comforting to have to follow a sign with their names on it soon enough though.

"What is that!" Ren said with awe as he beheld the sight before him. Pyrrha whistled softly and Nora simply gawked at the construction with her mouth hanging wide open.

And he had to give it to his flabbergasted team; this was impressive. It was a hundred meters long track of wooden poles that had to be at least a dozen meters high! Those things would barely be wide enough to stand on and too high to even reach; how would they even…climb those things?

He really hoped that this wouldn't be the way to go –if he could simply spot any of the red lights somewhere on the _ground_ then they would be safe.

"Do we just climb them?" Pyrrha said before pointing at something he could not see. "Because I think that we need to go there."

He followed her finger and realized that there were indeed red lights giving away where their next objective was –only it was too bad that they were suspended above the fortress of poles, indicating that they would indeed have to climb the construction.

"I knew this would happen…" He sighed. He felt a warm hand gently pat him on his back and realized that Pyrrha was trying to comfort him…only in a slightly humorous way.

"There there Jaune…there is a way up there without having to use circus tricks."

"What?" What was she talking about? There was a way up to the wooden poles that didn't involve them having to risk breaking their necks? "A way up?"

"Yes! Look, over there!"

He followed her finger again and saw what she was pointing at: a row of escalating pillars, just waiting to be used like a staircase to ascend unto the other poles. "Oh! I see…well, what are we waiting for? Let's go-"

Wait a sword-swinging minute…if he would send his team up there without any way to be sure about what lay ahead of them…he would put them in unnecessary danger. Team CRDL rushed ahead without a second thought and after five minutes, their Aura meters had dropped to half of their maximum capacity. He would not make the same mistakes as Cardin would…that jerk might think he could do everything that he wanted to, but he would _not _best _his_ team JNPR!

"-go, but with caution. We don't know what lies ahead of us there." He corrected himself and beckoned for Pyrrha to come closer. "Is there any way of figuring out whether there are traps up there?"

The redheaded girl shrugged and gave him a nervous smile. "We'll just have to wait and see I guess."

"Right…" He muttered and brandished his sword and shield. "I'll go first…Pyrrha? You follow me, but deploy your shield!"

"I had already figured that part out." She grinned and showed him her ready-for-action equipment. He smiled at the level with which she prepared for trouble and slowly advanced towards the large poles…with slowly being the key-word.

He had never actually trained for climbing strange constructions like these; his legs were already starting to hurt with the amount of straining activity. But he couldn't give up! It had taken team CRDL at least five minutes to get half-exhausted and he would be damned if they would do better than him…and he would never want anyone on his team to see that he was already getting tired.

Especially not Pyrrha Nikos. There was something about that girl –perhaps it was the kind way with which she treated him and others around her…or her impressive résumé that had allowed her to start her training at Beacon Academy –that gave him the desire to work extra hard. His father had always told him all kinds of useful tips and tricks for when he would be around ladies and one of them was to 'impress them.' And if there was one thing he wanted to do, then it was impressing Pyrrha. He simply didn't want her find out…to think that he was incompetent. At least too incompetent to work at Beacon.

So even with burning legs and aching lungs, he kept going. Eventually his right foot was about to step on the nearest higher pillar –only to step at least a feet lower than he had intended to. His entire weight shifted and came crashing down on the lower-than-expected ground.

"Whoah-" He was about to lose his balance completely when a hand grabbed his shoulder and prevented him from falling. Looking back, he realized that it was once again Pyrrha who had saved him from falling to his death.

"Thank you…" He muttered embarrassed and felt heat rush to his ears. He had never intended to put himself in harm's way like that…especially not in such a way that someone else had to save his butt again. Couldn't something go right for once?

"Sword and shield…" He said and demonstrated his equipment by shrugging his shoulders. "Hard to maintain balance."

He and Pyrrha both ignored the fact that she too was wearing her equipment in both arms and pressed onwards. It didn't take long for realization to come that his troubles had yet to start, however. He just happened to glance to his right when stepping carefully over the poles. It was already hard to maintain his balance while playing stepping stones a dozen meters above the ground and between stopping Nora from happily jumping off of the wooden forest and the paranoia of getting shot by some hidden Professor, his stress levels were raising very quickly. So when he glanced to his right to check for any suspicious man –or Matt- he realized that he was looking at a tree that was slightly thicker and more bulbous than the rest of the trees.

"What…" He muttered and felt the curious desire to reach out and touch the thing.

"Jaune, wait!" Ren suddenly said and held u his hands, like he was intent on stopping him.

"I know…" He replied and stopped a few centimeters short of touching the thing. "This tree has bad news written all over it…"

"Jaune…you might want to back away from that thing…slowly and now." The voice of Pyrrha said. Why was she sounding so worried? He glanced over his shoulder to see where she was standing and then looked back at the tree. Wait a shield-deploying second…was that a wire…running along the trunk's length?

His eyes slowly crept upwards and he craned his neck to realize just much of a problem he had caused. The tree was wired up –one wrong movement and whatever trap would be set for them, would be set OFF.

"Ehm…" He muttered and placed his left leg backwards to move away from the threat. "I think we will shift our direction to the left side of the poles…and advance from there.

Ignoring the constricting sense in his leg, he continued backing up and –constricting sense? What?

He looked down at his leg and realized that his left foot was caught in in a wire –a wire that was about to snap. "Guys…brace yourselves…"

In slow-motion he could see what happened. His weight was already braced on his other leg and he could not stop his current motions without falling of his pole. His foot came up-

-the wire snapped-

-and hell started.

"Run!" Pyrrha yelled. Nora didn't have to hear that again; she grabbed Ren by his hands and gleefully phased from her current position towards the only visible exit: the wooden platform suspended roughly fifty meters ahead.

"Damnit!" He cursed when he realized what he had wrought. Wooden darts burst from the tree and were send everywhere but their positions –which was a good thing, seeing as getting hit by a sharp wooden dart wouldn't be healthy.

The projectiles impacted on several wooden poles and trees, before detonating and blowing their targets to smithereens.

He didn't stick around to watch the fireworks and instead opted for increasing his forward momentum to, say the max. Explosions and traps were going off left and right and the red glare of flames stung in his eyes, but he ignored both the increasing heat and the desire to look over his shoulder to look at the chaos. Focusing on his feet, he nearly didn't see the next trap until Pyrrha bashed her shield into his side and pushed him from the pillar onto the next one.

"Thank you!" he yelled as he remembered exactly why he had deployed his shield in the first place.

"Sorry!" She yelled in return and continued moving. With their shields they were to deflect multiple projectiles and pieces of shrapnel, while advancing fast enough to keep ahead of the fire.

"Move it!" Ren said while he was anxiously pacing up and won the wooden platform where Nora had safely deposited him.

"I know I know!" He replied and winced as his pants caught on fire. Safety ahead! Safety ahead!"

"Impact!" Nora gleefully yelled and launched a grenade to a target directly behind him. The detonation both snuffed out the flame on his trousers and send him flying into the air –only to land sprawling unto the place that he would normally have never considered as safe.

He was on a fragile wooden platform suspended a dozen meters above the ground after having just narrowly escaped hell. But hey! He was alive and more important; he had done better than CRDL!

Now they only needed to survive the rest of the course.

~0~

10:16, Warehouse Six.

"G-Grimm? What are you talking about s-sir?"

"You know what I mean. You are monitoring the entirety of the Commercial District. You know everything that happens here and more importantly…you keep tabs on the goods."

`B/but we don't know w-what is happening sir! Our Warehouse got raided, my people killed and our guest, abducted!"

"Guest? Do tell." He already knew who it was, but he still wanted to test the honesty of his subjects. It was good thing that he had taken the time to crush this criminal organization to a small remaining amount a year back. Something this man remembered.

He had wanted to draw the major crime lords with their heads out of their potholes and more importantly, out of their asses. He had figured that the best way of doing so would have included obliterating several minor criminal factions before turning a larger one into a group of harmless puppies…which was exactly what his choice had fallen on.

The criminally associated organization responsible for murders and abductions and feared for their intense influence all over the Commercial District of Vale and political immunity had been his first choice. The man in front of him had been notoriously hailed as a criminal mastermind, the Police Department had been unable to take him down and the political immunity made it…difficult for the Hunters to work against them.

Thankfully he hadn't let something silly like political immunity stop him.

"H-he was a politician…corrupt yes! He wanted shelter because…he fear someone on to him. But he gone now…"

"Enlighten me."

"This…man came. He kills my men, destroy our property and kidnap the politician!"

"Yes…" So their humble fear was large enough to let them divulge secrets…not exactly the ideal crime organization. No honor amongst criminals it seemed. "So…things are changing in Vale. The shipment from The Lonely Angels…hand it over."

"What!" The man yelled and jumped up from his seat, knocking it over and sending it clattering to the ground. Normally his guards would have barged in the room to take the visitor out in that case…but the only indication that there were people standing outside the door was a loud flinch and a minor 'thud' against the door. "You insane! They kill us if we give their secrets away! You hold no power over them and we will never-"

He sighed and slowly reached out for his bowtie, before fixing it with easy and deliberate movements. "Don't mess with me…cupcake."

The boss grew as white as Velvet Scarletina in her winter-fur and his arm shot out to grab the nearest corner of the desk to brace himself. With his hand securely clamped around the wooden point and his other hand lashed onto his right knee, he started trembling. Trembling so violently that his moustache started to vibrate with him…an amusing sight for sure.

He cocked his head to the left ever so slightly before deciding that the crime lord in front of him could look like Peter Port…with a bit of imagination.

"Please!" The man coughed. "No need for violence…we have copies yes! We give you copy…you leave…yes?"

"You give me copy yes I not quite leave yet." He mocked the man and smiled, letting go of his bowtie in the process. That thing always worked. "This 'man' who abducted your guest…how did he look?"

"I only saw him for a second, before he run like coward! He wore black helmet with cracked visor…black suit with armoured components…and large rifle."

"He murdered two dozen of your men and he 'ran like coward'? Not very likely…are you bragging again Ivan?"

"NO!" The man yelled and stood, moving away from him and bracing himself against the window with his back. "Our hired ally attack him! She beat him and he ran…but he had the politician!"

"So he withdrew when he had his objective…start thinking military Ivan. Now then…this ally, who was she?"

"We do not know. We sought help for our business you know? Extra guards and hired muscle right? You understand right?"

He smiled and walked up to the man, stopping two feet distance. "I do. Now, who was she?"

"We not know! She appears in club, tells me that she had been hired by a man in power for us. We take her with us, next day we have money on our account! She is strong…might be as strong as you Professor!"

"Oh save the ass-kissing for her not me…where can I find her?"

"We not know…but…" The man gestured for him to sit down again and started rummaging through his drawers.

"I am no fool…I do not trust her…I found _this_ with her stuff. You recognize this…sir?"

He took the official looking letter and let his trained eye run over it once. The very first thing that stood out was the large 'O ' that adorned the front. "Looks fancy…did you open it?"

"No…I want to place it back before she returns…she dangerous. But the politician gave this to her…must be prove of corruption."

"I'll take it."

"Then you destroy it after, yes?"

"Perhaps. Now hand over the documents from The Lonely Angels and I'll be on my merry way…for now."

"You rob us like criminal Professor Doctor."

"You lost all your rights a year ago…when I showed you the error of your ways."

"You…" The man trembled again, but this time with anger. "Will find your match soon…sir. Things are happening here in Vale…nobody can control it."

"Watch me." He took the time to smile at the boss before opening the door –causing the two eavesdropping men a shared heart attack. "I'll let myself out now."

It was like a large game of chess…where he had three times as many pieces and could take three moves for every move the opponent performed. But these men…Ivan and his little gang…there were only a dozen of them left and they were all the pawns. The hired muscle…their little lady-friend? She was a higher piece.

And the Grimm were the queen.

~0~

10:27, starting area obstacle course.

"So…did you hear those Mark two exploding Hubris-disk detonations?"

"I only heard explosions…"

"That was what I said!"

"Right…must have missed it. " She explosively sighed and shifted her position on the grass. Patience was NOT something she was good in. Waiting was for suckers…she wanted action _now_.

"This won't be a normal obstacle source…" Cho let his ever-so emotionally charged voice ring.

"No shit!" She replied with an angry glance.

"Ah-ah! Mind your language." Grace stated, waving a finger in front of her head.

"Yeah yeah…" She muttered in return and crossed her arms. "Language whatever…"

"Two minutes." Goodwitch said.

"So…want to bet on how mutilated team CRDL is?" Grace said from her own prone position. The girl was lying sprawled in the grass, looking as relaxed as ever. "Who wants to start with the fingers?"

"I don't bet…" She replied and grabbed her Type-25. "I cause."

"Play nice girl…" Her friend grinned.

"What are you doing?" Cho suddenly and sharply asked, glaring at the demolitions expert who had –without a second thought- suddenly slipped her hand down her pants.

"Something's not quite right…" She muttered and fumbled with her hand for a few seconds. The only male on team LACG sighed and averted his eyes and Alessa coughed in her hand to make the situation seemingly less awkward.

But she didn't worry. If she knew her childhood friend –which she did- then…

"Gotcha!" The brunette said and withdrew her hand from her pants, pocketing two small round spherical objects. "Where did you guys come from?"

…she would surprise them all with a completely innocent little explosive device...what?

"I wondered where these two went!" She stated and flicked her wrist, sending the two bombs flying into the air before she caught the pair of balls again.

"Put those things away!" She angrily told her teammate.

"Three…two…one…go."

"Time for action." Cho said and rose from his sitting position.

"Come on Alessa, time to meet the explosives!" Grace said and beckoned for the blindfolded girl to follow them. The white-haired girl was still a mystery to her…but the only person she seemed to have any form of interaction with at all was Grace. It was a bit strange…but then again, the demolitions expert was way better with people than she was.

"Move it people! Time to kick ass!" She yelled and took point. The first few dozen meters was a walk in the park; moving to the edge of the forest before entering it. After that, she led team LACG through the thick-set trees until they encountered a sign with their names on it, pointing to a different direction. After another dozen meters however, Alessa suddenly stopped. Grace paused in her movements to take a look at her, while Cho merely pointed at something that she couldn't see.

"What is it?" Grace softly asked her teammate.

"What is it!" She angrily demanded from Cho.

"Trouble…" The blindfolded girl replied to the brunette.

"Look for yourself…" The male told her and pointed again.

"Guys hold up!" Grace yelled.

"There are the lights!" She told her team and unslung her weapon.

"Lisa! I think we should take it easy from here, remember CRDL?"

"CRDL ain't got anything on us!" She replied and charged onwards, hoping that her team would still follow her.

"I still think we should be careful Lisa…" Her friend said, but she didn't exactly listen to her warnings. She had spotted a way to climb unto the large network of wooden poles that stretched on for at least a hundred meters.

"Move it LACG! We still have a long way to go!" She told them and moved across the stairs-resembling pillars until she was at the highest point –a good ten meters high in the air.

"Damnit Mendez! Look out!" Cho suddenly yelled and caught up with her. "Alessa's pointed out three traps and Grace…is having a race with herself on how many traps she can spot. Her current score is seven."

She gulped and turned to face the construction of pillars again. "Grace…you and Alessa take point…"

Temporarily ignoring the fact that a blindfolded girl had spotted traps that she had not, she moved to allow her teammates to pass her. In the span of a minute, Grace had identified and disarmed enough traps to build several scarecrows out of them.

"This has to go on for a hundred meters?" She angrily asked her teammate. "That will take too long Grace!"

"Don't worry about it…I have disarmed all the major explosive traps that would send the rest off. It is save to proceed ladies…"

Angry glare from Cho.

"…and gentlemen!"

She tentatively took the first step and half expected to be set on fire. Nothing happened –that was good. Taking more and more steps, she eventually found that the way was clear.

"Grace, you are awesome!" She yelled and reached the point where her team was officially halfway across the wooden poles.

And then she heard a very suspicious click, causing her to turn around and face the newly arrived threat –

-which were incendiary charges being fired a dozen meters away from their position, causing the wooden poles to turn into a pit of hell. And the fire was catching up very fast; with a pole per second, they might not even be able to outrun them.

"I take that back!" She yelled and increased her speed. "You suck!"

"Suck it up buttercup…more running!" The demolitions 'expert' yelled in return and passed her over the wooden poles.

"Worst…expert…ever…" Cho breathed. "Of all time."

"Not my fault! That thing wouldn't set the rest of so I ignored- I mean, not my fault! Someone put a tree in my way!"

The four members of team LACG raced past the wooden platforms and headed towards the next part of their course…which couldn't be any better.

~0~

10:30, Obstacle course.

It was official. Physical exercise was the worst class ever! Exploding wooden poles, seas of fire, climbing and running! It was all terrible! How? How could Goodwitch have come up with something as taxing and roundabout insane as this!

"Ruby, hold up!" She frantically yelled as she was trying to keep up with her team. It was official; her stamina was the worst of team RWBY. And even though Ruby's endurance was slightly worse than Blake's was, they were both capable enough to keep up with Yang –who was showing absolutely ZERO signs of fatigue.

All that rigorous training…all the studying…and she still couldn't keep up with her…her friends. Since when had she actually started thinking about her teammates as friends? Yang and Blake were both relatively unknown to her, but they all supported each other during difficult times. And Ruby…she was a completely different thing. After the incident of Port's lessons and the incredibly good talk that they had had together, their relationship had received a dramatic increase. If there was anyone that she might consider a friend, it was her.

"Hold up!" Yang suddenly yelled, holding her hand in the air. The three girls that had been lagging behind came to a crashing halt as Blake's legs and Ruby's cloak somehow got tangled together.

She stared at the two girls as they rolled down the hill, yelling and screaming all the way to Yang. The forest had made way for an empty and very large hill, moving down to a small wooden shack. It was at that little building that the blonde was waiting for them, gesturing for her sister to slow down.

"Weiss!" The gauntlet-wearing girl then yelled. "You too, over here!"

Who did she think she was? A drill-sergeant? She had no right to yell at her like that!

"Hurry up slowpoke!" Ruby taunted her once she had disentangled herself from Blake's legs. "Yang found something!"

She swore to herself that she would find a way to make that redheaded little rascal pay and double timed it to the place where the team was currently holding a small break.

"It says here to wait for the rest." Yang muttered after studying the sign for a while. "The rest that has yet to show up here? How boring!"

"That means we have to wait ten minutes…at least." Blake stated and sat down. "That's it…I'm pulling it."

What on earth was that girl doing?

"Blake…what are you doing…" Ruby carefully asked.

"Think about it. JNPR and LACG still have to arrive here and that would take twenty minutes."

"Not to mention team CRDL…" Yang stated.

"Right?" She concluded, still not too sure about what Blake was doing. The black-haired girl was fumbling with her dress and if she was going to do what she thought she would do, then-

"I have this." The girl said and pulled a book out from underneath her clothes.

"Thank god." She softly whispered and walked up to them. "What do you have there?"

"A little something for emergencies…" The girl replied and opened the black-coloured bock.

"Emergencies? Like having to wait for twenty minutes?"

"Amongst others."

Ruby kneeled next to Blake and frowned for a second, before suddenly placing her hand before her mouth and jumping in the air. "I know that book! I have it! It is awesome!"

"What?" She said, hoping that the redhead was kidding. Blake looked equally unimpressed.

"You do? Really?" She said, probably not too sure about the integrity of Ruby as a reading person.

"Yes! Look!" And with that, the hooded girl reached underneath her own skirt and pulled the exact same book out. Seriously; where were those girls keeping these things? It couldn't be practical to work with freaking books underneath your panties!

"Soldiers of love…" Blake muttered and showed Ruby her own book. "You really have it! Where are you now?"

"Around halfway…he has just met up with her again after a year!"

As Ruby and Blake sat down to talk about their strange little romantic books, she turned around to keep a close eye on the hill. Perhaps the other teams would come sooner and save her from this nightmare…

"I am almost done with the book…refresh my memory, where was that?"

_Not listening…_

"Let's see…he was shipped off…then returned and met this girl…he dated her for two months and then he was shipped off again…he got nearly killed in the fight, but the thought of his girlfriend got him to keep fighting."

"Whoah Whoah whoah!" Yang yelled, putting an end to their conversation.

_Yes Yang! Stop those ridiculous bookworms._

"What is this book you are talking about?"

What?

Ruby showed her big sister her version of the book, which she took after a few seconds of hesitation.

"It's about a human soldier who has to fight in a long, bitter war." Blake started explaining as Yang stared at the cover of the book.

"And he managed to get back to a village, alone and hurt, when he meets a gentle, caring Faunus girl!" Ruby added, holding her hands by her chin and sounding like she was begging a famous person for an autograph.

"They fall in love and live together for a few weeks in piece…but then the war arrives and they get separated." Blake finished. "It is a beautiful book…you should read it."

"But…this book…" Yang slowly said, her hand starting to tremble.

"What is it?" Ruby replied.

"It…is…rated…M FOR MATURE! COME HERE YOU LITTLE…!"

Ruby yelped with surprise as her older sister tackled her to the ground and started tickling her. It was an amusing sight to see the redheaded girl squealing underneath Yang, laughing like crazy and wriggling her frail body to escape. Her cheeks were turning red and she was kicking with her legs like crazy, trying desperately to escape but to no avail.

For some reason, the air turned hot as she witnessed Yang pinning Ruby to the ground like that. The fact that she had been sneakily reading a perverted book didn't exactly help, either. Seriously, why was she feeling so warm?

"What is wrong with M?" Blake softly asked, before probably realizing that it might be a stupid question.

She had never read a romantic book herself…perhaps she needed to start on it sometime? It would serve as a new conversational starter with Ruby at the very least…

"Hey look!" There are people there!" A new voice suddenly yelled, causing team RWBY to turn around to see who was coming down the hill next.

"It's Jaune!" Ruby breathed, desperately trying to pump air in her lungs.

"And the rest of JNPR…" Blake softly said and placed her book back from where she had gotten it. Seriously; how did these people hide their books!

"Hello!" Nora Valkyrie yelled happily as she threw herself down the hill, rolling all the way down while her childhood friend Ren was frantically trying to prevent her from rolling into the wrong plants.

"Why are you waiting here?" Pyrrha asked, thankfully keeping her head to the ground.

She wouldn't have expected any less from Pyrrha Nikos.

"The sign says to wait for the rest of the teams."

"Apparently somebody did not tell CRDL that." The long-haired girl replied and placed her weapons away. "How long have you been waiting here?"

"A few minutes." Yang replied with a smile and ran a hand through her blond hair, trying to fix it after her little curb stomping battle with her sister.

"Okay…that leaves team LACG to wait on." She said and hoped that those four would also show up sometime soon.

"And the other guy." Pyrrha stated.

What? "I'm sorry?"

"You know…quiet guy, didn't show up for Grimm Studies…wears a helmet?"

"What?" She replied, having virtually NO idea what the girl was talking about.

"Hey Yang?" Ruby then asked. "Wasn't that the guy you were talking to on the cliffs? Back at the Initiation?"

The blonde shrugged. "Could be…I don't know."

She groaned and resisted the urge to slap herself in the face. '_Stay calm Weiss…don't let stupidity make you angry…_'

As team JNPR took their place amongst team RWBY, she noticed that Jaune's pants were damaged. It looked a bit like…they had been on fire recently. Fashion? If that was fashion, then the boy was probably horribly outdated. But between Ruby and Blake reading their perverted books and Nora and Ren messing around with flowers, she didn't know who annoyed her more. Waiting wasn't really her strong suite and she would be damned if she-

"Contact!" Ren suddenly said. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the four silhouettes emerging from the treeline.

"Contact yourself!" One of them angrily yelled in return, confirming her identity already.

"Someone's upset…" Jaune carefully said.

JNPR and RWBY watched as team LACG came down the hill, two of them visibly arguing and the other two trying to refrain from commenting.

"You don't want to know what we just went through…" The brunette known as Grace said, running a hand through her short brown hair. "It wasn't pretty."

"Normally I am not one for boasting…" Jaune started, but got interrupted by a loud snicker courtesy of Ruby. He looked over his shoulder and gave her a pleading expression, which earned him a small "sorry" before he could continue. "But I really want to go ahead and guess that we had it worse."

"Hold up!" She interrupted them, not wanting to let all the pain and embarrassing actions she had been put through to have been for nothing. Bragging rights; still useful. "I don't really want to talk about it, but we definitely had the very worst thing that could possibly happen! And I got _groped_ for my troubles!" That last sentence was aimed squarely at Ruby, who had been the only one to hear it.

"Weiss…that is not really what happened! It was an accident!" Ruby whispered with a begging undertone. "Just forget about it!"

She was glad that the rest of the teams hadn't heard her saying that out loud…it would make things very awkward.

"Well, we had to escape a thunderous wave of fire!" Lisa said.

"So did we!" Jaune exclaimed.

"Heeeelllooooo!" What about us?" Yang yelled in turn.

What were they doing?

"Explosive traps!" Ren added, popping up behind Jaune.

"Lethal darts." Blake appeared behind Yang, aiding her.

"Heheh! Got them all!" Grace grinned and walked up to Lisa.

Seriously, were they going to compare their troubles? That had definitely NOT been her intention!

"Carrying Ren!" Nora happily yelled, raising her head behind Jaune but facing the wrong direction. Ren grabbed her head and gently turned her to face the right direction.'

"Carrying soft and warm Weiss!" Ruby suddenly stood next to Yang and Blake, jumping up and down in an attempt to be seen before simply deciding to stand at their sides instead.

"I am going to stay out of this…" Jason Cho said and crossed his arms.

Now all eyes were aimed at her, Pyrrha and Alessa.

The blindfolded girl shrugged, Pyrrha nervously smiled and completely inconspicuously moved towards her team.

"Ehm…" She said and decided that siding with the team would be the best idea. "So we had to cross a lot of wooden poles…"

"…suspended a dozen meters above the ground…" Cho said.

"…rigged with traps." Jaune finished their conversation. "So we didn't really have a harder time than you guys…that is a relief actually. I hate having to compete."

"Heads up…" Alessa softly said, causing Grace to look behind her and virtually everyone who hadn't heard her speak before to jump a feet in the air, thinking that a ghost might be talking if they hadn't seen her lips move with their own eyes.

"What-" Lisa muttered before turning around and seeing a new student having arrived at the base of the hill. "Why do you have to creep up on us like that you weirdo?"

That was a bit harsh…and Alessa's apparent eyes in the back of her head were more intriguing than some idiot joining the fray. That girl had been standing with her face aimed at the teams gathered; how on earth had she seen that guy approach when nobody else had seen him?

"Hello!" Ruby nervously said. "These are teams JNPR and LACG…"

No response.

"I figured that you hadn't met them before."

No response.

"I…" The redheaded girl took a desperate and pleading look at her face before continuing. "I…like your helmet?"

She sighed and joined Yang at the sign near the shack. This would be a VERY long day…

~0~

"_The letter. The one you…procured. Where is it?"_

"_I ain't got a clue where you lot are yappin' about! Now let go of me before I have you assassinated!"_

"_You are not in a position to make threats."_

"_Aaaaaaghhh…arg…ah!"_

"_Shall I ask again?"_

"_Go to hel- AAAAAAAAHHH….AAARGH! Okay stop! STOP! Please…I'll talk…"_

"_Shall I ask again?"_

"_I gave it to the woman…s-she has it…please…just l-let me go…I can o-offer you m-money and-"_

*TWAK!*

"_We do not need money…where can we find this…woman?"_

"_Warehouse…Six…"_

~0~

**Ten tun tun! **

**Yes…chapter ten. Hurrah for me! I am good and stuff! **

**Please leave your comments and opinions in a review…I think this story needs more feedback. Writing is a learning curve for me and without feedback a writer can nor grow. That being said, I appreciate all the favers and followers that I have thusfar! You are awesome!**

**Until next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

**So yes, most of the name trouble has been solved…for now.**

**~0~**

'_To the Headmaster of Beacon Academy:_

_We expect that there has been no trouble up to now? The timing is drawing near and soon the Operative will need to fulfill his true purpose. We hope we need not remind you of what this is? _

_In any case, we wish you good luck in your efforts to train the new Hunters. _

_We hope to hear from you soon –and do not worry, soon our business with the foreign countries shall be finished and our mutual agreement will be…easier.'_

~0~

Day four: Beacon Academy, headmaster's complex, 11:02

'_What have you found?'_

'_The situation is worse than I had expected.'_

'_Worse? What could be worse than hard evidence for the Grimm returning? That was what you had expected.'_

'_Difference between returning, evolving, plotting or simply never having disappeared at all is rather large, Ozpin. I need more time…will you meet me today at the usual place?'_

'_This better be big Matt; I am very busy today.'_

'_When have I ever disappointed?'_

'_Just…be there.'_

He sighed and stored his scroll away. The consultant was testing his patience…but if his truth was even the slightest bit credible, they would all be in big trouble.

He had always understood the reason for everybody's innate fear of the creatures of Grimm; even though they had all been reduced to small wandering tribes confined to certain regions they still represented that which mankind feared every day of their lives, right up to the day that it would actually take place.

Death.

But that was the reason for him creating Beacon in the first place. Vale was a beautiful city, bursting with history and secrets. One of those secrets was intimately linked with a rich history in turn; the 'ruins' on the eastern hill, not far from the city of Vale itself.

The kingdom of Vale, in the continent of Vytal, was one of the more prestigious ones. The eastern kingdom had to be; there was absolutely NO contact with the other two remaining kingdoms and they all had to fend for themselves.

But when he had first had to establish Beacon Academy, he was faced with two choices already prepared for him. One choice had been to simply build a completely new Academy out of nowhere, which wasn't exactly enticing to him.

The second choice had been to build Beacon out of existing buildings: and that was more feasible. The complex and widely spread-out Ruins on the easternmost hill had been his first choice…something about that place just felt magical. It had the perfect qualities: large, lots of intact buildings and more importantly: isolated from the major bulk of Vale.

Beacon Academy had risen from the corpse of a great civilization, according to some. They were not completely wrong about that.

He took a sip from his coffee and sighed when he thought about the implications of Professor Matt's search and its supposed success: the man was actively searching for answers to questions he did not even ask himself. Such a quest would be doomed to failure and yet…and yet he had received a message from him, telling him that he had had found evidence. What sort of evidence that was supposed to be was beyond him, but he knew that it could not be positive.

Now, their mutual friend had been one of the very few places out there to actively support beacon in its plight to train hunters for Humanity's protection; if only he knew more about them than they knew about his Academy. One of the many passing days had turned out to be very different from the rest when he had been approached in the city.

A man had sought him out with a proposal: the group he had represented that day wanted to forge a mutual business-relationship with him.

Of course he had been skeptical; Beacon had barely been existing for two years by that time and he only had two groups of students. Why would anybody want to support an Academy? They were not only funded by the government, there was also no reason that the Grimm would return in such great numbers as doom-sayers were so gladly saying.

But the representative had not cared for that. He had told him that they knew that problems would eventually raise their heads and when they would, Beacon would need to stand tall.

Not realizing the implications of that statement, he had accepted. And now it was the fourth day of Beacon's third year; his new students had barely started their education and the second- and third-year students were busy training in complexes where the newest students would not even see for the coming year. His Academy was thriving, yet Vale was slowly descending into a state that was not desirable.

And at the very start of his newest year, he had been contacted again. It was his mutual friend again, telling him that "the moment was there and that events had been set in motion.' And with that, the man had told him that his group would send one of their own members to Beacon to support their troubles against the coming times.

He could remember that conversation as lividly as it had been. And while he gulped down another twenty milliliters of coffee, he remembered the strange way that his conversational partner had used to speak. They would send one of their members –but whether that person was a student or a Professor had been unclear up to the day that the boy had arrived.

Mysteries covered up by ascending lies…they had not given him much to work with, even though he was the Headmaster of Beacon Academy. The boy was a soldier; but not one of the soldiers that were active outside of Beacon. Vale did not communicate much with the other cities in Vytal; most of their communications went through encrypted channels and almost always spoke of commercial business.

The young man had not been in possession of a normal name: instead merely being called Operative by his superiors and Two-Oxford in the field.

But with the help of his Professors, he had done some digging. Not only in the city of Vale, but also with the surrounding cities they had talked. Nobody knew anything about a group or a company with enough power to send a person that was called an operative. Only government agencies or military companies did that and Vale was in possession of neither.

Their government was led by the Embodiment of Governing, the most powerful political part in Vale. Not everybody agreed with their business, but they got the job done well enough that the City did not fall into anarchy.

So Beacon was being supported by a young operative with an unknown name, whose unknown superiors originated from an unknown organization. It did not run well with him and if things didn't work out for the better, he would get serious and tear the truth out of the air.

But that would not take place until after Matt returned. In the meantime, he could take a look at the schedule of teams RWBY, JNPR, LACG and CRDL. Monday had been the day of the Initiation; the schedule for that day would not come out until next week.

Tuesday was the first day that they really had to visit the colleges: they were to get up at eight thirty and attend ninety minutes of Grimm studies followed by half an hour of breakfast, before they all had to travel to the Beacon grounds where their sixty minutes of Physical Exercise would take place. Then they had a sixty-minutes break during which they were free to have lunch or coffee break –although he severely doubted whether these Students were educated enough to drink coffee. After said break, all that remained was half an hour of Scenario-training before they were done with the day.

At Wednesday they were scheduled a tad busier: get up at eight thirty and attend the Warfare module –no, the Professor was still not present. So that college would be suspended until further notice, which granted the first-year students sixty minutes longer to sleep. So get up at nine thirty and have forty-five minutes of breakfast…lucky kids. After that, they would have to attend the History class with Professor Oobleck and his…frustratingly physics-breaking cup of coffee. Ninety minutes later the Students were allowed to have half an hour of lunch and coffee break again, before having their very first collective Informational college.

The collective Informational colleges were new in the education of the hunter; ninety minutes with all of the students gathered together, with all the Professors gathering as well to grant the students insight in what it meant to take your education to the next level. The first one of these colleges would provide the students with information about practice courses: dummy missions in which they would test their abilities in the field. All of the would-be hunters were supposed to attend and listen to the Professors telling them what practice courses were and what was expected of them.

What would happen after that? Ah yes, another fifteen minutes break before Psychology classes. As a hunter, not only were you representative of your Academy, you were also a representative of humanity itself. You needed to have insight in how the human mind worked and how people felt, not only for the safety of your team but also for the most comfortable mission environment that could be reached. By that time it would be thirty minutes past two, effectively ending their day.

At Thursday they were scheduled to partake in their first practice course, which would cover the entire day until they would finally return to the Academy to have dinner and sleep.

Friday meant the same old boring schedule: waking up at eight thirty, ninety minutes of history with Oobleck and his cup of magical coffee and then thirty minutes breakfast, before advancing to ninety minutes of Grimm with Port/Matt and their strange rivalry. After all that, there will be another sixty minutes of Physical Exercise. The teams will be very busy indeed.

No matter what Matt would find in evidence; he would not be faced by it. The biggest problem right now was Oobleck…and his coffee.

~0~

So basically, team CRDL had jumped the gun and left the area without waiting for further instructions. Even though Glynda Goodwitch had told the four jerks that time was not important to the exercise, they had probably still felt like they needed to prove something to the Professor and blindly ignored every other sign or order that they should have encountered.

But now that the other teams had gathered together, they could continue with the exercise and show that their leaders were capable enough. Jaune had performed excellently; most likely because he had been perfectly shown how NOT to do things, but still. It was good.

"What now?" The blond girl called Yang said. Compared to the rest of her team, the girl was almost unharmed: a minor scratch on her cheek was all that showed that she had been hurt in the first place. And if one were to shift his or her attention to...Weiss, for example, they would see that not everyone was impervious to damage. And fire.

The Schnee Heiress' skirt was torn in a few places and she had multiple red spots on her body that signified that she had been hit by the nasty paintballs…that would leave some bruises.

Blake's arms were covered with small cuts and spots where she had been pelted with not-so-harmless projectiles and a nasty bruise was forming on her shin.

Ruby was the least wounded of team RWBY –besides her big sister of course- the redhead had some minor cuts and a single bruise on her cheek.

"I think that we need to continue along the trail." Jaune replied, stepping closer to the shack to investigate it.

"Didn't we have to wait for a reason?" Weiss said with an annoyed tone.

Four buzzes demanded attention and the four teamleaders present pulled out their scrolls to read the new message that they had received.

"Head northwards and complete the real obstacle course. Then you will return to the starting area, using the most direct route available. Go." Ruby and Lisa almost simultaneously read out loud.

"Oh good." Grace said. "Instructions."

"Easy peasy!" Jaune called out and put his scroll away, before trying to orient himself. "Northwards would be…here!"

He turned around and looked at the sky, before scratching himself behind his eye. "Or…here?"

"Just admit it maestro!" Weiss angrily said. "You have no clue where to go!"

That was slightly uncalled for…even though her leader did not know where to go; he did not deserve to be treated like that. "Do you know where to go Weiss?" She gave her reply to the pale girl, secretly hoping that the Dust-user would have no clue herself on where to go.

"Sure! We need to head…northwards!" The reply came after a few seconds.

"And that is…where?" Ren added, catching on to what she was trying to do.

"Well…ehm…I don't…know…" Weiss said, a small blush appearing on her cheeks. Good! The girl was already feeling the consequences of her actions in the form of her own emotions. No need for hard feelings.

"Thanks Pyrrha…" Jaune whispered.

"You are welcome…" She softly replied.

"I think we need to go…there!" Nora yelled and pointed directly at the sky. Her childhood friend patted her on her head before hushing her.

"We are standing here with thirteen students." Jason Cho said. "And nobody knows how to orient to the north."

"Well, do you know mister smartass?" The second blond girl on Beacon angrily stated.

"I never said I knew. I stated that nobody knows." He replied, not shifting his bored expression and inch.

"He has a point…" Yang pointed out, causing Ruby to sign in frustration.

"Very useful dear sister…why don't you use your love of the sun to point us towards the north?" She said.

"No can do…unless we need to head there-" She pointed at a general direction that was incidentally covered in Jaune's own attempt to orient to the direction they needed to go. "-but I am not sure."

"Who is running this education…" Blake said and pulled out her copy of Soldiers of War again.

"So how do we proceed now?" Grace asked.

The girl had a good point: arguing had no use. They needed to focus and pick a direction.

The boy without a team shifted his weight from one leg to the other and young Ruby instantly looked at his direction, like a young bird picking up motions. The black-clad warrior walked towards the nearest tree before kneeling down in front of it, seeming very interested in the forest's ecosystem.

"Look! Mister no-face feels like praying…" Lisa sighed an rolled with her eyes.

"You might want to do something…oh I don't know, useful!" Weiss yelled at him, but he ignored her and ran his left hand down the tree. Then his dark visor turned to look at the sun before he stood again. What was that guy doing? Had he found a way to orient himself?

He turned towards the right a bit and pointed in that direction.

"That the way yes?" Yang asked him patronizingly.

The helmeted student did not reply in any verbal way, choosing to nod instead. It was quiet for a few seconds before Ruby broke the silence. "Well, good enough for me."

"I second that. Let's go." Grace added and with that, it was suddenly decided where the north was.

She did not really care for who picked their direction, as long as they simply kept moving. But both Weiss and Lisa did not feel that way and they were happy to share their discontent at the chosen direction.

"That was pure guessing and then suddenly everyone wants to head that way? That does NOT make sense!"

"Hell yeah…I could have picked a random direction by stroking a tree!"

"Yes. But you didn't."

"At least I did not make a fool out of myself for attempting to pick one."

"Hey! Do you know who you are talking to?"

Well…happy to share might be an overstatement. They could communicate for ten seconds before falling into a chaotic argument, that was good enough for now.

It seemed that both Lisa and Weiss had a problem with maintaining their cool…and while Weiss was not a teamleader herself, her conversational partner was. If she didn't learn how to control her emotions soon her team might run into trouble. But that was why they were attending the academy in the first place, right? To learn from mistakes and become even better for their troubles.

"So…" She started and turned to face the only person whose face was obscured at the moment. Starting a conversation with someone you did not know was usually done the easiest by giving them a compliment, before showing interest in the intricate 'how's' and 'why's'. "Good job by figuring out where to go next. How did you know where to go?"

The boy did not respond immediately, instead choosing to look at her general direction before returning his attention at the road ahead.

"Moss." He eventually said, before looking away again. Judging by the way he had not even bothered to look at her while talking and his complete disinterest in keeping the conversation up, he had no desire in talking. Still, she was interested in his technique and she wanted to get to know him better. It had to be hard to work without friends in a team like that and she had already a basic impression of what the others were like.

She ran a hand through her red hair and quickly figured out how to proceed. "What about the moss?"

He looked at her direction again, before turning away _again._ What was up with him?

"Pyrrha!" A voice yelled a few meters in front of her. "You better come and see this!"

She sighed and chose that the call of her teammate was more important than the rude manners of a guy she barely knew and quickened her stride to catch up with Ren. She looked over her shoulder once and half-expected the student to wipe his forehead with his hand to indicate social awkwardness in a cliché way.

Of course that did not happen.

"What is it Ren?" She asked the Aura user.

"I think you might want to see what is coming up…" He said and pointed at the rays of sunlight that were indicating an end to the forest.

She passed two members of team LACG and overheard a small part of their conversation.

"Are you sure Alessa?"

"Very sure."

"Two dozen meters?"

"Yes."

She briefly wondered what that was all about, but as soon as the party exited the woods her curiosity was quenched. Rather dramatically.

"Oh…" She said and took a position next to Jaune. "That looks…fun."

~0~

A letter? That was rather interesting. Who would put all their intricate information in a letter? And more importantly, why was it of any significance? The large O on top of it looked familiar to him…in a twisted way. As for the official documents that had been 'entrusted' to him…well, those would have to wait until he had arrived at his car.

But the organization that had been in possession of that particular document…how in the name of the living bowtie had they ever managed to get their filthy claws on it? Of course the mere fact that they had been in possession of such sensitive information had been unknown to him until a few days back, where one of his contacts had warned him of the problem.

If it really contained the information that he SUSPECTED it contained…then he shouldn't be able to wait with opening it.

He should be capable of opening it straight away. Any indication of problems at all would have to be conferred to Ozpin immediately…but he was so curious!

No! Duty came first, then your own unearthly and ravenous curiosity. No touch! No open!

…can open now?

Right! It was settled! He would most definitely NOT open it not!

'_I am so good…'_ He thought and stepped in the car. "Now then…juicy documents are juicy…"

He opened the seal at the top and a handful of documents slid into his hand. The first page was a general nonsensical collection of willy wabble garbage talking about secret plans and meetings with Ivan. But those were irrelevant! He needed to figure out what their opinion on the looming Grimm threat was and seeing as they were the only overseas criminal organization with science projects…well, that spoke for itself really.

He turned the key around, ignited the engine and promptly mashed the BELAY button when a sudden countdown came up.

"But what do they mean…" He muttered as he put the vehicle in its reverse and gave gas.

"Developments…captured specimen… allies? What allies?"

He twisted the wheel around in order to barely miss the nearest building and then put the car in its M. Once again he pushed the pedal in and cursed his lack of multiple directions.

"So…the Lonely Angels have teamed up with someone…but who? Who could possibly want to work with them?"

He steered to the right and avoided an incoming truck, before steering to the left again to miss an approaching pedestrian and quickly setting the car in its A.

"And a map…I like maps, with their big blops and lines. Wait a car-steering minute…"

He steered his car and refocused on the documents.

"Why did they draw a circle around Beacon?"

He looked up and realized that he was standing still in front of a streetlight, with an elderly lady sitting in the car next to him. He lowered the window and beckoned her to listen.

"Hear this!" He said. "The Lonely Angels have drawn a wibbly map of Vale, with a big red circle around Beacon Academy. That would indicate a morbid fascination in the school, but that wouldn't make sense because they were already busy with experimenting on Grimm! They cannot focus on the Academy like that and their newfound ally sounds like an ass too…I wonder what the second letter will contain…what do you think?"

The grandmother behind the wheel trembled slightly and pushed her glasses further up her nose.

"Kill them all!" She croaked and pushed the gas pedal all the way down when the streetlight hit green, obscuring the road in a thick black cloud of smoke.

"She must have really hated The Lonely Angels…" He muttered and waited until his own streetlight had turned green. Once it did, he gave some gas and pondered about the consequences of the newest quantities of information. So The Lonely Angels were working with someone with Beacon Academy in their minds? How were the Grimm entangled in all of this...it did not make sense?

Perhaps a nice conversation and the complete documentation would help. Until then…the letter was interesting him too much to simply let the thing stay unopened.

So he would let it stay closed for now.

~0~

"That does not look fun…that does not look fun at all!" She said with despair as she beheld the sight that lay before her: it was a real obstacle course, not unlike the ones she had seen in her nightmares back when she was still a little kid, dreaming of school and PE-classes. It was a one-hundred meter long stretch covered with racks, unclimbable walls and blockades, patches of water and mud.

And the many moving segments…those counted too. Those things…looked scary too. But at the very least she had Crescent Rose to work her way through the mess…she would support her in the coming battles!

"Oh relax, I've had worse when I was a kid!" Her older sister replied with faint smile…she briefly wondered what was up with that. Why would a smile be faint?

…why was she wondering what her older sister was feeling when she could usually see that with a single glance? Perhaps she was just…tired? Distracted? Terrified of coming obstacles? Yeah, that was it. She was probably distracted right now.

"What's the matter Cho?" Lisa snickered and bumped her teammate with her elbow. "Feeling the memories touching your head?"

"It's Jason. And no." The boy replied. His expression was also unreadable to her…but that problem might not lie entirely with her. The Jason/Cho combination was a very hard one to understand…she might want to talk with Lisa about that.

"How..." Nora asked, "In the name of the mighty grenade…does THIS call back memories?"

"That's the spirit." Grace replied and walked up to the course. "A little this of that…mustering with the stuff…additional boom…I can forge us a way!"

Yang blinked at that. "Excuse me? Can you translate that to proper English?"

"Oh…sure." She scraped her throat and put her hands in her pockets. "A little bit of incendiary fluids powering my Dragon's Foliage, combined with an ounce of water and a small amount of natural occurring Nitrogen and a small HUBRIS centi-explosive to set it all off. That can blast its way through everything but solid concrete and enable us to advance!"

Yang looked at Pyrrha and Jaune, who shrugged and face-palmed respectively.

"She means napalm, water and someone to piss on it before blowing it all to hell…" Lisa explained the delicate procedure to them.

"Oh!" The three students replied, suddenly understanding it.

"How…how does she know that such a…strange technique works?" Blake asked the one question that everybody wanted to ask, but lacked the courage to do so.

"You don't want to know…" Both Lisa and Alessa answered before turning to face each other.

"I don't understand what is going on here…" The blonde said with a suspicious look on her face, alternating between pointing at herself and the blindfolded girl respectively.

"So what now?" Ren asked.

"Now…we either blast our way through the barricades or use our weapons to propel ourselves over it. Either way, easy going." She gave her reply and deployed her scythe, preparing herself to launch over the obstacles.

"Nope…don't think so…" Jaune then said after all four of their scrolls buzzed once again. He pulled his one out of his pockets and started reading the newest message. "By this time I feel free to assume that all four of the teams have reached the final obstacle course. Your goal is to cross it any way possible, without utilizing your equipment. A student may only be supported by his or her partner –the one acquired in the Emerald forest- during the exercise. I say again: Do not utilize your weapons and equipment to get to the next obstacles."

"Well that sucks…" Lisa said. "Why are we doing this again?"

"Teamwork I guess…" Pyrrha replied before beckoning Jaune. "Shall we go first, Jaune?"

"Yeah…good idea." The boy replied and stepped forwards, facing the three meter tall wall. "How are we going to do this?"

"I don't know about your plan, but if I may?" She said.

"Sure…you know I always appreciate your feedback…"

"Get a room…" Weiss softly whispered, causing her to snicker. Pyrrha and Jaune were a bit too kind together…was this supposed to be so obvious?

"Good to hear it. If I stand here…" She took her position in, "And you come running at me before I give you a boost…then I can throw you up there before joining you."

"Excellent idea!" The boy replied.

"Let's do that too…" Blake muttered, probably recognizing her partner and concluding that it was the best way to proceed.

Both Pyrrha and Yang took their positions at the wall and prepared themselves.

"Go Jaune!" The redheaded girl yelled.

"Yang, give me a boost!" Blake called.

Jaune took a few meters distance before running towards his partner, aiming with his feet to her extended hands.

"Uh…alright…" The blonde girl replied and knelt next to Blake. "You are a nice person…and I like your bow!"

"A physical one…" The bow-wearing girl growled.

"Ah! Right! Sorry…"

Jaune's feet hit Pyrrha's hands at the same time Yang boosted Blake all the way over the wall, nearly throwing her over the thing.

"Watch out!" She yelled after her partner, seemingly oblivious to her own physical strength.

"Okay, I'm up Pyrrha" Jaune yelled yet. The way that the teams tried to make their way up the first obstacle was just hilarious to watch and even though both Yang and Blake were already up the wall, they seemed content to wait until the rest had crossed over before continuing.

The former athlete jumped in the air and folded her hands in Jaune's, allowing the boy to pull her over the wall. Now there were four students standing at the top of the wooden wall, leaving only nine other to proceed. She could already see how that was going to become a problem.

"I have an idea too…" Ren said.

"No!" Nora shut him up and brought her head closer to his to tell him her own little plan. On the contrary to what she naturally spammed with her mouth, her newest addition to the idea-pool seemed actually valid judging by Ren's response.

"Let's do it."

Nora kneeled down next to the wall and her long-haired friend took a running jump before landing with both feet on her shoulders. The girl then jumped in the air and propelled Ren up in the air, allowing him to grab the edge and slowly pull himself up. "Grab my legs now!" He called.

Nora looked over her shoulder and gave Weiss a not-so-subtle wink before jumping at Ren, clasping her hands around his legs and slowly climbing up via his body.

And the fact that she accidentally and almost pulled his pants off was totally not suspicious at all, by the way….all three attempts.

"Good job!" Yang happily yelled and gestured for them to move on. "Next loving duo!"

"Since when are you fixing people up with love…" Blake replied and crossed her arms.

"I always spread the warmth wherever I go."

"Grace does the same thing…" Cho dryly mentioned.

"I believe there is a difference between burning people and-" Lisa started, but Ruby cut her off.

"-and burning people."

"Dear god there are two of them now…" Weiss said with despair and sighed. "I might as well try to climb the damn thing next…come on Ruby, let's go!"

The pale girl then practically proceeded to grab her hood and pull her towards the obstacle, not taking the slightest chance in account that neither of them had an idea.

"Weiss, I don't really know how to do this! We aren't exactly the strongest ones of our team!" She tried to make her partner listen to reason, but she might as well have talked to the helmeted student for all the good that did. _Since when had a person replaced a metaphorical wall in her thoughts? Oh well, it was slightly innocent as long as it did not happen too much._

"We will figure something out!"

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?" Team LACG's leader asked team LACG's Cho.

"Probably not." Said Cho replied. "But I will go ahead and guess…screw that wall?"

"Hell yes!" Lisa replied, causing Yang to nearly lose her balance and fall off of the wall.

"Mind your language!" She snapped and waved her fist with anger. "Or I will come down and teach ALL of you some manners!"

She snickered when she saw her sister's words cause such a funny response in the students still standing on their side of the wall: Lisa blinked with disbelief at the sudden threat, while Cho and Grace merely took two steps a person backwards.

Alessa dropped her head, but that was all that she could see, really. Why were people suddenly becoming hard to read again?

"I know girl…living with constant death threats can be hard…" The demolitions expert said, baffling her already hard-pressed mind even further. How in the name of all that was a Scythe could that girl see what Alessa was thinking, while she was suddenly struggling to do so? That was so cheating!

"So…" Grace then said. "Do you want to commence operation S-C-R-E-W that wall?"

"I guess so…" Her friend replied. "Come on Cho, let's go! Hey, that rimes…"

"The name is Jason."

"Jason doesn't rime with go."

"Just go…"

"Fine."

The two ever-bickering students both ran up to the wall –only to stop and stare at each other as the only form of unspoken communication went complete sideways.

"I have an idea!" She suddenly yelled, catching Weiss by surprise.

"What?" The Schnee Heiress replied, but she was already on the move. Glynda had forbidden them from using other people's help…but using other people had no such rule. She jumped and landed on top of Cho's shoulder just as he was about to say something and accidentally shut him up.

"Sorry!" She then said as she took another large jump, just barely managing to latch her hands onto the wooden frame.

"Good job sis!" Yang said.

"Hey! What about me!" Weiss anxiously said. "I can't just…do that!"

"Sure you can…" Cho sarcastically said, unknowingly giving the girl the green light to undertake operation Jump-on-Heads.

"See! He even grants us permission to do so!" She yelled at her friend before beckoning her. "Come on now, you can help me get up here!"

"I am SO going to regret this…"

Weiss then took a running jump as well, bounced her petite frame off of Cho's head and landed right next to Ruby, hanging on the wall.

"How are you girl!" She said.

"Be. Quiet. And now allow ME to execute an idea!"

And with that the pale girl utilized _her_ as a climbing pole to lift herself in the air, nearly throwing both of them towards the ground in the process.

"Careful!"

"Ouch! Hang still!"

"You care climbing me!"

"Better me than anyone else!"

"Shut up!"

By the time Ruby and Weiss had gotten themselves up and over the wall, the remaining team LACG was slowly getting boring.

"Wanna try out another recipe soon?" Grace asked Alessa, but her question had to remain unanswered forever as the wall suddenly separated the two girls from her and Weiss, after they had successfully dropped down.

"Your turn!" Yang yelled towards two other students. "Make it quick, we want to advance!"

Why was she so impatient? Time wasn't that important in this exercise.

"I hate you…" Weiss grumbled, before reaching out and running a soft hand through her hair.

"What did I do to deserve that?" She asked suspiciously.

"Let's just say that jumping and climbing people is more fun than doing so with Grimm."

"Oh…the Nevermore?"

"The Nevermore."

~0~

Nope! Definitely opening the letter after a minute!

Racing down the road with his vehicle in its second T-gear, he started pondering the consequences of the recent activities in Vale. Things were turning messed up very quickly and that was because of a series of escalating events.

First of all: Grimm had disappeared, destroying the Northern Continent in their wake. Then, everybody suddenly pulled the ol' dame Angry with each other and nobody wanted to talk to each other anymore, causing all of the continents and their kingdoms to break off every single form of communication.

And if complete political isolation when faced with dire consequences wasn't bad enough, the people in Vale had started to whisper and gossip and not-so-quietly threaten about the future and how the creatures of Grimm would return to destroy them all.

Of course, that was years after complete groups of Grimm had started to appear in the other kingdoms. As a professional Hunter himself, he had traveled to SO many places…too many for his own good.

So he for one believed that the Grimm were slowly returning to their prowess, sitting in the dark and waiting for the right moment to arrive before striking at Humanity with all the ferocity that nature had to offer.

And Ozpin himself had believed the rumors in the sheltered safety of Vale too, because he had turned the most beautiful and most alien set of ruins in the entire eastern continent in the magnificence that Beacon was. An Academy created to train other Hunters…it was brilliant.

But the creation of Beacon had been three years ago…years after the threat of the Grimm had been confirmed as real, at least in other places. And still they had not raised their ugly heads to enable others to cut them off.

He honked twice and the group of cars in front of him dispersed, enabling him to continue onwards.

Where was he again? Oh yes, Beacon. So Ozpin had received a message from some unknown man working for an unknown organization offering him some unknown help. And now, years after that, Ozpin had seemingly received the help in the form of the socially awkward Operative whats-his-name-Thingy –whose help primarily seemed to exist out of posing as a Student.

A student who had the nasty tendency of disappearing every now and then. His designation…Two-Oxford…that could not be a real name. It was a lie –and not a really clever one at that. Whoever the kid worked for had to be either complete geniuses or retards.

Because Oxford was military slang for…ooh. That might be…slightly problematic.

His letter had seemed very official and also very in the possession of criminals, yet appeared completely unopened. The letter on the letter…was an 'O'.

And guess what Oxford was a military slang for?

Ding ding! Good guess: it is the 'O'.

Two-Oxford meant Double-O and a letter saying O that was too official for seasoned criminals to open…mysterious yet official help for Ozpin that disappeared every now and then. All these separate things, all of these pieces of one large puzzle weren't separate at all!

Never ever ignore coincidences-

"Whoops!" He yelled and steered away to avoid sudden traffic. "Why is everyone driving on the wrong lane? I am trying to think here!"

-unless you were busy. In that case, always ignore coincidences.

So! Back to the official documents of The Lonely Angels. One of the other pages said something about very important research concerning captured Beowolf Specimens… he wanted that research. He needed it –and he would get it.

It was time to do multiple things as soon as he returned to Beacon Academy-

-damnit cars!

"Move it!" He yelled angrily, before realizing that he had yet to lower the window. So instead of angrily yelling at all those people that were driving in the wrong line, he decided to angrily think.

Step one: pierce a hole in the tight schedule of the first-year students. Step two: look at Ozpin with lovely coffee-eyes to enable permission. Step two-and-a-half: create awesome new dropship to enable students to effectively travel. Step three: put students in dropship and fly them to Lonely Angels headquarters.

But…that would have to wait for a while.

First thing to do now is get to Beacon in one piece.

~0~

Glynda Goodwitch' idea of an Exercise was very…unique. Letting them climb obstacles without any sort of help beside their teammates was an excellent way of solidifying teamwork in the teams, but it was poorly executed and resulted in quite a few awkward situations.

But as long as all of them had crossed the three meter high wall it wouldn't matter that much. And with Grace and Alessa being the last students to get over the wall together, every team that mattered had gotten past the first obstacle.

That was excellent.

"Come on Blake!" Yang said. "Let's go!"

But…not everyone had a team that could be relied on. While every single pair had managed to get over the wooden obstruction, there were thirteen students that had to finish the exercise. A total of thirteen, at least.

And the last person to get past the first obstacle was also the only person that seemed to work without allies that could be relied on. It was sad really; to see a person operating all alone when everybody around him was finding success with their allies…their friends.

"We can't leave yet…" She said and took another look at the helmeted figure below her. She had never actually had a conversation with him –even though he had helped them with their luggage some time back. He wasn't exactly the most social student, but neither was she.

But Ruby Rose had pierced right through her instinctive distancing methods and pulled her right in the team, causing her to find friends in the place where it had seemed the least likely for her to actually FIND friends in the first place.

Perhaps this young man was merely looking for someone to help him get over his emotional walls?

"Why not-oh…" Yang replied when she realized that she had blatantly forgotten about someone. "Well…I guess that is the result of 'working alone' huh buddy?"

That was a cruel thing to say. Why was she acting like that? "What do you mean?" She asked her partner.

The black-clad student merely walked up to the wall and looked up, his polarized visor making it look like he was looking right at them.

"It was just a thing he said," Yang told her and shrugged. "He told me that he worked alone. Guess this is what happens when you don't have a partner to rely on?"

Yang was right…even though it didn't feel good to admit. Back in…back when she was younger, the only way for –for people to survive was to stick together. If someone simply refused to work with other people, there was a good chance that said someone would die.

"We are prohibited from helping you…" She said and turned to face the student standing alone at the base of the wall. "I am sorry…"

Then she turned around and –without looking over her shoulder to meet Yang's eyes or witness the realization of the helmeted boy- walked away. His stupid behavior reminded her of her past…and it hurt. She pitied him for his situation and hated him for doing the one thing that Fa –people should never do if they wanted to survive in a cruel world.

"Blake! Hold up!" The blonde yelled and jumped after her. "We need to keep working together!"

Her sensitive ears twitched and she heard the familiar scraping sounds of someone running at increasing speeds, before those disappeared and made place for a loud scrambling noise.

She identified the incoming noises as someone running at the wooden wall before attempting to scale it. Yang joined her in moving to the second set of obstacles and she turned around to look at the obstacle; faintly hoping that the lonely student could manage on his own.

Black fingertips appeared at the top of the structure, but slid away when the maneuver proved unsuccessful.

She sighed and refocused her attention on the coming problems: teams JNPR and LACG had already moved ahead, but both Ruby and Weiss were still waiting for them to meet up with them. And…wait an ear-scratching minute! There were four other people waiting for them there.

It was team CRDL, sitting at the edge and looking completely exhausted, utterly beaten and very covered with dirt.

"Ready for this Yang?" The redheaded girl laughed and pointed at the next obstacle: it was a two-meter wide river of mud, stretching out for at least five meters. Normally anybody could have used their weapons to propel themselves over the pool, but at the prohibition of their equipment they would be forced to take the hard way.

"What the f- I mean heck! Who in their right mind designs this kind of s- stuff?!"

Her attempts to hide her cussing were pitiful.

But the sight of an obstacle that could only be identified as a mudbath was not exactly enticing to her. It would take HOURS to groom herself properly after this!

"So…" Jaune said as he stepped to the edge of the wooden platform that was suspended half a meter above the mud. "What are we supposed to do now?"

"I see something up ahead, there!" Pyrrha Nikos replied and pointed at the platform that lay on the other side of the five meters long slice of hell.

"It looks like a lever…are we supposed to pull it?" Grace asked one of the males from team CRDL.

"Find out on your own…" The boy bit at her. That was not nice.

The six pairs turned to look at each other and like one, they all turned away and yelled: "Not us!"

She looked up and noticed another thin wooden bridge suspended at least three meters above the pool of mud. Too high to utilize in their maneuvers, but it had to be a part of all this.

"Your professional opinion?" Weiss Schnee asked her teamleader.

"I'd say that the lever over there will activate something that enables the rest to cross. It depends on the goodwill of one person to cross the mud and activate it, though."

Depending on the mud-clad boys from team CRDL, there had to be a catch to it.

"I knew it…" Jaune sighed and crossed his arms. "So one of us has to jump in there, work his or her way to the other side and pull the lever, enabling us to cross in some way?

"Either the platforms will lower…or something else will." Ruby finished.

But the biggest and most burning question right now was: who would sacrifice himself?

"I won't do it!" Weiss yelled. "I am wearing WHITE!"

"Neither will I…" Yang agreed. "I just did my hair this morning!"

"I'd do it…" Grace said, causing everybody's heart to elate with glee. But before any of them could rejoice in the coming of the new hero, she continued. "But if this is mud…sand with water…then it will detonate the explosives I am carrying. Will make a preeeetty big boom."

"Boom is bad…" Ruby muttered. "And mud is bad for my baby! It would clog her up…no can do!"

"I don't want to have to waste two hours with cleaning myself…" She thought and fixed the bow on her head.

"Well…SOMEONE broke the showers in our room…meaning that nobody can clean themselves in there." Ren said and as if it wasn't obvious enough who he meant, Nora jumped and yelled: "Not my fault, someone placed a Ren in my way!"

The awkward implications were obvious enough.

"So…that leaves us CRDL as projectiles." Yang growled and stepped closer to the four, causing them to jump up with anger.

"Or better yet, we play Rock Paper Scissors to determine the person who will have to sacrifice themselves." Lisa said, actually offering a good idea for once.

"I do not like that. " Jason Cho said and crossed his arms.

"Why? Feeling unlucky?" Pyrrha joked.

"She always cheats…"

"Do not!" The blonde yelled.

And how in the hell did someone cheat at playing Rock, Paper and scissors?

"Well someone has to go in there!" Dove sneered. "Who of the pretty ladies will completely embarrass herself?"

"Don't worry!" His friend laughed. "Our showers still work!"

And with that, not a single girl on the teams wanted to jump in the pool. CRDL had just wasted every opportunity for the ladies to become dirty and allow them to advance.

"I think we found our guy…" The blindfolded girl called Alessa said. Her…predicament was a peculiar one. Why did she wear such a strange piece of clothing and how could she even see with that? It had to have got something to do with Dust…or Aura…or both. And what guy?

The teams JNPR and LACG turned towards the way they had come from, where a helmeted figure came towards them to once again join them in their problems.

How had Alessa seen that person? She had been standing with her back turned towards him…what was her secret?

"Glad you could make it." Jaune said and extended his hand towards the student. "I don't even think we've been properly introduced! My name is Jaune Arc, yours is?"

"Like that would work…" Ruby muttered and Yang held up her hand, as if she was waiting for someone to dump money in it.

The armour-wearing male completely ignored Jaune's extended hand and walked past him, moving towards the edge of the platform to take a look at the situation. Team CRDL also moved a bit closer to the edge, looking fully intending to push the helmet-wearing student in the filthy mud. Jerks.

"Here's the situation…" Weiss angrily said while Ruby gave Yang a high-five, like they both had been expecting Jaune to get shot down by a boy, "Big dirty mudbath and one person needs to-"

He did not wait for the white-skirted girl to finish her rant and instead jumped off of the platform just as Cardin was about to shove him, ending up to his ribs in the thick brown substance and showering the entire platform with waves of mud. Thankfully team CRDL had been standing in the way of most of the deadly projectiles, reducing the gross fluids by ninety percent before the remainder splattered through the air.

Lisa yelped and quickly hid behind Jason Cho –as did Grace and Alessa- allowing them to continue relatively clean while their male teammate merely sighed as if he had been expecting that to happen. That boy was taking quite the abuse in his team…

Nora did something familiar with Ren, but Jaune did something that she –and she was sure that she was not the only one- had never expected. The blonde boy saw what was coming and actually stepped in front of Pyrrha, protecting her from the multiple splatters of mud that would have hit her otherwise.

Everybody grew quiet –with half of the students looking at the still unknown student wrestling with the thick layers of mud and the other half gawking at Jaune's attempt to be a gentleman.

"Why thank you Jaune…that was very kind of you!" Pyrrha smiled and gave him a subtle hug. "But I wasn't afraid of a little mud. "

"Liar liar pants on fire…" Ruby whispered.

"Ehm…" The blonde boy said and his cheeks turned red with a little blush. "I…didn't think about that, no…"

"Is that guy an idiot!" Mister Winchester broke the awkward but cute little situation with his idiotic surprise. `What kind of person in their right mind would willingly jump in a pool of _that_?"

"A real man does that." She bit at the bullying teamleader. "Someone who IS willing to help others."

"Oh burn!" Yang and Grace both yelled at the bulky male, not realizing the irony of their statements.

"Go stick your head in a toilet…" Cardin replied angrily and turned around to start conversing with his teammates.

"That was a good one!" Yang told her as she walked closer to the edge of the platform again. "I didn't know you had it in you."

"Whatever." She replied and watched as the student with his strange mindset continued making his way through the deep mud, struggling to keep himself upright and attempting to reach the other side as soon as possible. She had to give it to him: even though he acted like a Cardin-graded jerk, he was willing to do what was necessary to grant the other students the chance to work with greater ease. The only thing that worried her a bit was the previous statement of working alone…if he really worked alone, then what use was helping other people to him? The main reason for him jumping so willingly in the mud would be for his own reasons: continuing on with the exercise.

But…whatever his reasons were, at least he had done something that benefitted them all.

The rest of the teams weren't so burdened with overthinking things by the looks of it. Yang and Ruby were happily cheering, while Weiss was merely attempting to hide her disgust of the sight and the smell. Pyrrha was still looking very happy with her leader's actions and stood at his side as he watched the helmeted figure force his way through the thick obstacles.

Nora was pointing at the guy with a multitude of "Ooh!'s" coming out her mouth, while Ren was merely and silently conversing with Cho about some topic she could not overhear properly. Lisa and Grace were watching with a mixture of disgust and admiration at the sight, occasionally trying to give him some hints.

"My idea is: avoid the mud to your right! That looks bad!" Lisa yelled, resembling someone whose name she could not quite remember.

After two minutes of silent wrestling and struggling in the nipple-high layers of mud, the student had reached the opposite platform. There was only one problem: it was at least five feet high and he could barely reach it. Being sucked down by five feet of mud while you were trying to get five other feet in the air was something that not everybody did on daily basis.

"There has to be a way that we can help him!" Yang said, surprising her with a degree of caring that she had severely lacked during the last obstacle. Was a silent protagonist struggling through a mudbath considered good in her head? Her teammates were odd people…

"He only needs to pull that lever…but he can't reach it from his position. He needs something to balance himself on." Pyrrha said and looked over her surroundings for anything that might be able to help the boy. "Like a branch or a large stick of some kind…it can't be one of our weapons, for Glynda's and other, more obvious reasons. "

A large branch? There were trees virtually everywhere, but they were prohibited from using their weapons to assist in the crossing of the obstacle course…in the obstacle course, that is.

"I have an idea." She said and grabbed her Gambol's Shroud and aimed it at the nearest tree."

"You know we are forbidden from helping other people cross obstacles, right?" Jason said.

"Yes. But right now, _he_ is not crossing the obstacle just yet."

"And the no-weapon thing?" Ruby asked her.

"I am not using it on the course itself."

"Of you clever thing!" Pyrrha exclaimed. "That is brilliant!"

She threw her weapon, cut off a large branch and pulled it right back at their position –taking care to not accidentally flatten anyone with it.

"That is a smart plan indeed." Ruby said with a smile. "Go fill that garbage-filled ditch with branches!"

"Totally not an insult, by the way!" Yang found necessary to yell at the mud-struggling young man, before lifting the heavy branch and slinging at him –nearly decapitating Russel in the process, who had to duck in order to survive.

Not a single reply was given that day.

The normally black-clad student looked up and tried to dodge the incoming projectile –it wouldn't feel nice to let that wooden appendage smack one on the head, even though one was wearing a helmet- but seeing as he was so intensely stuck in the mid, there was no way he could dodge that thing.

"Damnit Yang!" Weiss yelled, looking frustrated that the only person that seemed immune to the mud was about to be knocked out by a thick branch. "Look at what you did?"

"Sorry…" She muttered.

The wooden appendage hit the surface of the brown substance and splashed mud all over the boy's protective helmet. He really was lucky for wearing that thing all the time…

He reached for the thing and tried to push it down, pulling himself up in the process. The procedure was similar to a documentary she had once seen, a few years back. If you suddenly found yourself stuck in something like quicksand and you were in possession of a stick or similarly formed object, you could use said object to spread out your weight and pull yourself on top of the surface of the quicksand. But after that you had to crawl on your belly to escape, and the student was doing the opposite: trying to balance himself by standing on the branch. If he was planning on doing what she thought he would do…then he only had one chance to do so.

"Where is the rest of that idiot's team?" Cardin asked angrily. "And what is he even doing?"

"Oh shut up you big idiot…" Lisa said, causing the brown-haired male to angrily glare at her.

"He is saving us a very nasty shower-scene!" Weiss took the opportunity to reply.

By the time Jaune gave his reply, the student had managed to get on top of the branch and jumped; a one-time maneuver, because it would push the wood down and away, preventing any other technique like that to be used.

But the boy was either very lucky or very skilled; his hands wrapped around the wooden edge of the platform and even though they were slippery with the nasty mud, his arms supported his weight. If he could simply pull himself up, he could pull the lever and they could all go home.

"Come on! You can do it!" Ruby yelled like she was watching a favorite movie of hers.

"No way that is going to work!" Sky yelled with amazement as the now mud-shrouded student pulled himself up and reached for the lever.

One more final act of power and they could all finish this damn thing and go home. She too found herself immersed in what was happening at the other side of their wooden platform. Mud had never been one of her strong suits and if the boy messed up, they would be swimming to the other side.

Or hiking, considering the amount of suction that the messy ground had.

He was kicking with his slippery feet against the wood, attempting to get himself higher. As if a miracle came down to rescue him from his troubles, he shot forwards and reached for the lever. Just ten more inches and they could utilize whatever result the mechanic would have to cross the mud.

"Heh…sucker." Cardin whispered and he and his team slowly backed up, as if they expected another wave of mud to crash over them. Nobody could hear him but her and she did not like his tone. They had all forgotten that team CRDL had had more time to stumble around in the obstacle course than any of them had. And they were all covered in mud…why was that? Only one person would need to get to the lever and she had the foreboding sense that the boys weren't the types who would willingly accompany their chosen one when they were perfectly capable of hanging back and doing nothing.

So what had happened to make them all so dirty? This smelled like a trap…and mud.

"We might want to get back. Like now." She said and jumped backwards, feeling like something was going to go horribly wrong. Thankfully the students of teams RWBY, LACG and JNPR were that much closer to each other than CRDL could comprehend and only a few second after she had warned them, all the would-be-hunters had backed up as far as the small wooden platform allowed.

"No!" Cardin angrily stated, but by then the rest of his words were lost as both of the platforms suddenly tilted over and nearly slid them all into the mud. Pyrrha instantly reacted and grabbed Jaune, who had been standing a bit too close to the edge and had almost fallen into the mud for his troubles.

"Thanks Pyrrha!" He said as his feet stopped mere inches from the thick layer of mud.

"Don't worry about it…" she said. The rest of the students had used a combination of weaponry and sheer skills – and even sheerer luck- to stay put.

She looked up from her own relatively safe spot and saw that she helmeted figure had also run into a similar trap. As soon as his platform with the lever turned into a mean ramp, he kicked himself up with his feet and slammed his hands into the wood, attempting to gain as much leverage as he could to save himself from sliding back and dooming their clothes.

"You bastard!" Lisa yelled. "You knew about this!"

"Oh your ass is staying here…" Yang growled as her pupils shifted between their two colours, showing that she was attempting to keep a tight control over herself.

"As a hunter you should expect anything!" The egoistical leader of CRDL yelled. "Merely trying to assist here."

The rest of his team burst into mean-sounding laughter at their leader's joke.

"Ass…" She muttered and looked at the other side of the mud-pit again, hoping that the teamless student could fix their troubles just right. It was not looking very good; in the two seconds that had passed between his ground collapsing, he had only been able to desperately claw at the ramp to get up. Just a few more inches to go and he could reach the lever.

By sheer luck, his right boot had gotten stuck behind the dropping mechanism and prevented him from dropping into the pit again…but that looked very painful, the way his foot was now oriented. If it were to collapse or even shift, he would tear the tendons around his ankle to pieces.

He looked over his shoulder and gazed at their position, taking notice of their own predicament. Then he turned back and tore his foot free, before digging his hands deep into the wooden ramp and managing to lift himself the few inches up that he needed to be. His right hand reached the tip of the lever before his legs collapsed and he slid back down the ramp, only stopping in time because he had managed to keep hold of the lever.

It gave underneath his weight and was shifted to the front, fixing the platform at their own site and dropping multiple long, thick ropes from the wooden structure above them.

"Hah!" Jaune yelled. "Well done!"

"Woohoo!" Ruby yelled before twisting around and looking at Cardin. "In your face!"

"Is that official permission?" Yang asked her little sister.

"Not today dear sister…not today."

The only thing that was left to do for the teams was to travel across the ropes to the other site. The helmet-wearing student was still hanging from the lever, waiting for the other teams to cross over before doing anything.

"That was actually fun." Grace said when she and Alessa crossed.

"Speak for yourself…" Ren replied.

"I wonder how beautiful we can become by using that!" Nora yelled and pointed at the mud.

"Don't even start…"

Yang and her were the last ones to cross the ditch besides CRDL and as she looked back to see what the four were doing, she noticed that they too were attempting to use the ropes to cross.

"I thought that 'their asses were staying' there?" She reminded her partner of her own words.

"I know…you know what they say right? Forgiving and forgetting and the likes."

"That does not sound like you."

"Oh hush."

They reached the platform at the other side and Yang looked at the big smear of mud that was their savior. Then she sighed and bend her head towards him.

"Thanks I guess…" She said and proceeded to extend her hand to him to help him up, but he waved her away –taking care not to shake too many droplets of mud at her face.

"Fine." She said and stood again. "Come on Blake! Let's go!"

She faced the boy too and decided that his behavior was kind of asking for that treatment. "You asked for that you know…" She told him.

He didn't reply, but instead reached with his other hand to the lever and slowly pulled himself up. She didn't feel like sticking around to watch, but as the young man reached the wood with one foot and still held hold of the lever, realization started to dawn on her.

"Yang…you might enjoy this." She said and turned around to move on, using her sensitive ears to listen to the glorious aftermath of the Mud-plays.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked, but a sharp 'SNAP!' and four screams of despair followed by four loud splashes sort of provided her with an answer.

The socially awkward student had set the lever back and broken it off, dumping CRDL in the pitch of mud and trapping them there until they could all figure out a way to get back on the platforms. He hadn't waved them away because he felt like he didn't need their help; he had done so because they would have interfered with his plan. Perhaps there was still hope for him.

"Did you send us away because of a practical joke?" Yang asked him.

"Negative."

Well…that was one line of thinking that went down the drain.

~0~

"_So the White Fang has not actually been sighted in the city of Vale…but I still have the feeling that they are out there. They won't rest until…actually, what do they want? Bring down the Schnee Company, for sure. But what else? What could these anima- I mean people possibly want?"_

"_Sir…equal rights? Lessening of abuse against Faunus workers? Stopping racism against the Faunus population...revenge for the murder of forty-seven of their nonviolent members?"_

- Oh the Police…

_~0~_

**And that was Eleven…I want to thank the people that have supported me up to now and I want to ask my readers to leave more reviews: I need feedback on how my story writing, grammar, plot and OC's work out in this fanfiction. But until that point arrives: alons-y!**


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